cost of education per student $$$

**Neeley** · 07-19-2011, 10:40 PM

Originally Posted by imagine

I wonder why it costs twice as much to teach a non parishioner?

I can only speak to how things are done at DS's school.

He attends is a private Catholic school. The way his school works is if a student's family is a tithing member of a qualifying Catholic church and they tithe at least $1K per year, the family is given a $1000 discount on tuition for the first child only. Rather than paying $8K per year, they pay $7K for the first child, $7k for the second and roughly $6K for each additional.

Also, admittance preference and scholarship preference is given to families meeting the same criteria. Any spaces in the various grades available after all Catholics have been considered are then offered to non-Catholic families. All scholarship monies are distributed to the catholic families that apply first with the remainder going to the non-Catholic students.

Only 40% of the students in his school are Catholic. The remainder are of other denominations. All students still take religion classes and attend weekly Mass. Non-Catholic students just do not participate in Communion.

**MaryCarney** · 07-19-2011, 11:12 PM

All of the parochial school in our area (Catholic and Protestant) give a discounted tuition to church members. I would never have considered this unusual at all.

**zakity** · 07-19-2011, 11:35 PM

We homeschooled until they were all put in a private correspondence high school. I spent maybe $1000 a year on the guys for homeschooling on an "expensive" year and way less than that on a "cheap" year. That includes field trips, entrance fees, money for activities and classes, and curriculum. The private high school was $1330 per child for all four years. We still have activities for the guys (maybe $30 a month). School supplies are almost non-existant also (some erasable ink pens).

**imagine** · 07-20-2011, 02:31 AM

Originally Posted by Neeley

I can only speak to how things are done at DS's school.

He attends is a private Catholic school. The way his school works is if a student's family is a tithing member of a qualifying Catholic church and they tithe at least $1K per year, the family is given a $1000 discount on tuition for the first child only. Rather than paying $8K per year, they pay $7K for the first child, $7k for the second and roughly $6K for each additional.

Also, admittance preference and scholarship preference is given to families meeting the same criteria. Any spaces in the various grades available after all Catholics have been considered are then offered to non-Catholic families. All scholarship monies are distributed to the catholic families that apply first with the remainder going to the non-Catholic students.

Only 40% of the students in his school are Catholic. The remainder are of other denominations. All students still take religion classes and attend weekly Mass. Non-Catholic students just do not participate in Communion.

Oh I get it, the difference was in tuition cost not the actual cost to teach the students. I understand the difference.

Talking about tuition in Catholic schools.

The places I have lived all had Catholic elementary/middle school and high school (one had many actually based on your Parish/home church) and they were not on a tuition based system. Anyone Catholic or non Catholic who tithed at least 10% of their family income to the Catholic Church was able to have all their children attend for free. A great bargain for the big Catholic families in the area.

It would be interesting to know what their cost per student was/is as running the entire school would be in the Church Budget. I wonder if their actual cost is less than the public school in the same area. I know that were I lived special education students ( not gifted but other special needs) spent half the day or more in the public schools so the Catholic schools would not have had the expense.

**Neeley** · 07-20-2011, 03:01 AM

Originally Posted by imagine

It would be interesting to know what their cost per student was/is as running the entire school would be in the Church Budget. I wonder if their actual cost is less than the public school in the same area. I know that were I lived special education students ( not gifted but other special needs) spent half the day or more in the public schools so the Catholic schools would not have had the expense.

I tried to quickly find what our particular school's cost per student was. I did not find any information specific to our school, but found some information on the National Catholic Education Association's website regarding the national average of cost per student among Catholic schools. According to their site:

The average cost to a Catholic school to teach an elementary student per year is $5,436. The average tuition for an elementary aged student in a Catholic school is $3,383.

The average cost to a Catholic school to teach a high school student per year is $8,787 and the average tuition cost is $10,808.

The average public school per pupil cost of $10,297, as reported by the National Center for Education statistics, includes both elementary and secondary schools. (On average, secondary school costs are higher than elementary, but are not reported separately.) (Copied and pasted from the NCEA website.)

**vm9799** · 07-20-2011, 10:50 AM

my 2 children attend a private lutheran school and have for the past 9 years. dd(14) is now enrolled in the private lutheran high school.

so for both of my children's excellent private school education (each for k-8th) we will spend approx $24,000 in total. BEST money we've ever spent!

now add in the very costly high school tuition (roughly $5200/year after parish discount & financial aid) and we'll spend approx $21,000 per child for 4 years of high school.

there is no way in H.E.double hockey sticks my kids would EVER set foot in our city's public school system. the valedictorian at an area high school failed to get into purdue university!!!!????? the VALEDICTORIAN! into a state school (& my alma mater). that is UNACCEPTABLE!

anyway.....it may seem crazy expensive to some, but the money we're spending for private school is something i will never ever regret.

grand total of all education for 2 kids from k-12: approx $66,000 & worth every single solitary penny.

** i should also note that we live extremely simply in order to do this. their education (it's all associated w/our church parish as well) is a non-negotiable & first priority expense to me.

**nuisance26** · 07-20-2011, 10:59 AM

~NJ cost per pupil in 2010:$13,330 (My kids would be in in the special classes though at $18K or more each)
Here's a frightening quote from this article: "Overall, Avalon — a tiny district in Cape May County that consists of one school and 75 students — spent $35,882 per pupil in 2009-10, the highest in the state and more than twice the state average."
The private school I went to: $6K each
How much I'll spend homeschooling this year: Less than $750 each child and that includes all books, supplies, membership fees and field trips.
The last two years have been much cheaper but I went with a complete kit with dvd's for my oldest this year since I'll need more time with my daughters.~

**jennordhavn** · 07-20-2011, 01:16 PM

I did some research and this is what the schools my kids would attend if they went to public school spends per year on each student:

Elementary $8,237
Middle $7,538

This is the current tuition for where they will actually attend for 2011-2012:

Elementary (K) $13,250 + $500 field trip/supplies fee
Middle (7th) $22,456 + $1,000 one time fee for new families (we paid that last year) and $30 annual registration fee

Both schools also have an annual giving campaign and last year I gave $100 to my daughter's middle school (this is my little one's first year so not sure how it works at that school yet).

We get financial aid at both schools and pay about $1,140/mo. total. We pay about 44% of total tuition for elementary and about 25% of total tuition for middle school.

The public high school where we live spends $5,942 per student. This is likely where my older daughter will go in two years for high school.

**shoiji** · 07-20-2011, 03:36 PM

There is a high school near me that in its hayday was THE place to attend. Unfortunately, now it is run down and the roof is leaking. Some rooms are unusable and closed off. There is a big debate going on whether to fix it or tear it down and build a new school. Worst part it is in an area crime riddled.

This school is in one of the top three states listed on the article.

The dollar amounts are interesting. Especially when there are still countries where you need to pay for your child to receive an education. Sure we have taxes but it is more guaranteed that your child will receive an education.