Catholic schools see continued enrollment decline, save nation $20 billion per year
January 30, 2013
In a statement for Catholic Schools Week, Bishop Joseph McFadden of Harrisburg, chairman of the Committee on Catholic Education for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, stated that “based on public school per pupil cost, Catholic schools save the nation more than $20 billion dollars a year.”
Bishop McFadden also stated that “99% of Catholic high school students graduate each year,” “84% of those students go on to graduate from a four-year college,” and “15% of students are from non-Catholic families.”
The number of students enrolled in Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the United States has continued to decline, from more than 5.2 million in the early 1960s to 2.65 million in 2000, 2,065,872 in 2010, and 2,031,455 in 2011-12. The number of Catholic schools has fallen from almost 13,000 in the early 1960s to 8,146 in 2000, 6,980 in 2010, and 6,841 in 2011-12.
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Further information:
- Bishops’ Education Committee Chair Sees Catholic Schools As Centers For New Evangelization (USCCB)
- Catholic School Data (NCEA)
- The State of Catholic Schools in the US (2011) (Catholic World Report)
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Posted by: -
Jan. 31, 2013 11:38 AM ET USA
I have 3 kids in parish elem school, and I completely agree with the preceding comments. The bishops reap what their modernist-assimilationist-secularist-"ecumenical" predecessors sowed. Orthodox schools thrive because they adhere to the Truth, and attract like-minded parents. I teach CCD to 8th graders who don't attend the parish school, and the state of their catechesis is deplorable - and these are the kids whose parents care enough to send them to CCD! We are losing another generation!
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Posted by: cobol39218881 -
Jan. 31, 2013 9:56 AM ET USA
Yes, I went to Catholic school for two years, 1st and 2nd grade. That was all the Catholic training I ever got. I only know one faithful Catholic that sent their kids to Catholic school. All the others have experienced anti-Catholic teachings from 'Catholic' schools and now home school or send kids to charter schools. That way at least the kids know what is Catholic and what is not. I only support Parishes and schools that faithfully and proudly teach true Catholic teaching. Hard to find.
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Posted by: LittleRedHen -
Jan. 30, 2013 7:31 PM ET USA
Jasoncpetty3446, you've hit the nail right on the head.
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Posted by: Jason C. -
Jan. 30, 2013 11:26 AM ET USA
Give us a true alternative to the government schools and we'll send our children to you; but if all you're offering is co-educational, public school curriculum with weak-sauce catechism tacked on at the end, you're not getting my children or my money. Sorry. Give me something authentically Catholic, through and through--maybe even throw in daily Mass--and you'll have all the time, talent and treasure (my children and my money) I can spare.
