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Additional Catholic School Education Facts and Trends

(Source: National Catholic Education Association)


During the 2006-2007 academic year, 36 new schools opened; 212 closed or consolidated.

The largest growth in schools and enrollment has been, generally, in suburban areas (Opened: 16 Mid-Eastern states) and in the Southeast (3 schools) and Far Western (4 schools) regions of the United States.

The largest enrollment declines have been in the large, urban areas in the Mid-Eastern (school closures: 94 elementary; 5 secondary) and Great Lakes (school closures: 45 elementary) sections of the United States.

Between 2000 – 2008, enrollment in Catholic schools declined 14.4% overall; enrollment in Catholic elementary schools declined 15.8% (24.7% in urban schools).

There are 7.6 million students in Catholic education at all levels – schools, religious education programs, colleges, universities and seminaries.


Mean elementary parish school tuition: $2,607; secondary school mean freshman tuition: $6,906.

Dioceses with The Twenty Largest Enrollments:

New York	New Orleans
Chicago	Detroit
Philadelphia	Miami
Los Angeles	St. Paul/Minneapolis
Brooklyn	Baltimore
Cleveland	Rockville Centre
St. Louis	Milwaukee
Cincinnati	Washington, DC
Boston	San Francisco
Newark	Pittsburgh

Catholic secondary school graduation rate: 99%; 97% go to college.


Alternative school operating models:

Cristo Rey Schools

• Offers low-income students an affordable college-prep high school education through work study programs with partnering companies and organizations that provide job training and positions in exchange for the majority of the school tuition.
  
• Founded in 2001, 19 schools comprise the Cristo Rey School network
  
• Examples: Cristo Rey New York High School, Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School in Washington, DC
  

San Miguel Schools

• Run by the Christian Brothers, these are low cost or free schools for low-income middle school aged children
  
• Begun in 2001, 64 schools now exist, serving 4,300 students in 27 states
  
• Examples: St. Ignatius School, Bronx, NY; Sacred Heart Nativity School, San Jose, CA
  

Consortium Schools

• To aid struggling schools, a consortium is formed to administer the schools, achieving academic, enrollment, resource and financial stability through shared resources, bill paying, facilities management, tuition collection and professional development and practice.
  
• Examples: School districts in Memphis, TN, Indianapolis, IN
  

Magnificat Schools

• Catholic schools, particularly those with limited resources, partner with a Catholic university’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program (examples: University of Notre Dame, Boston College, Holy Cross College) to prepare teachers and principals to become effective instructors, administrators and leaders.
  
• Examples: Holy Redeemer Catholic School, Washington, DC