Students from all socioeconomic backgrounds deserve to have access to an education that best fits their needs. In many cases, a private school option may be the right one. However, trends in enrollment and private school tuition suggest it is becoming more difficult for students from middle- and low-income backgrounds to access private schooling options. In a new report, Bellwether Education Partners explores how private schools seek to improve affordability and profile a selection of private schools that are driven by a mission to serve disadvantaged students.
The research of Richard Murnane and Sean Reardon shows private school enrollment among low-income students has remained around 5 percent and those among middle-income families has declined from 12 percent to 7 percent since the late 1960s.
The stark decline in the number of Catholic schools is likely one driver of the changes in private school enrollment and tuition. Data from 2011-12 indicate that Catholic schools offer average tuition rates significantly below those of other private schools. Notably, in 2005, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops committed to “making [their]…schools available, accessible and affordable to all Catholic parents and their children, including those who are poor and middle class.” Unfortunately, the widespread closure of Catholic schools has meant a declining supply of the lowest-cost private school options. Meanwhile, tuition increases at independent private schools (the most expensive type of private school, on average) have outpaced inflation and wage growth.
Despite these trends, many private schools continue to serve middle- and low-income families and are continuously working to reduce expenditures, increase revenue, while improving affordability.
As highlighted in the Bellwether report, participation in private school choice programs is one strategy to improve private school affordability. Florida’s choice programs make the state a strong example of how the private schooling sector can serve students from low- and middle-income families.
Florida has two private school choice programs specifically designed to support students from lower-income families. Consider the scholarships available to middle- and low-income students through these programs:
Florida families also benefit from a healthy supply of private schools – including, but not limited to, Catholic schools – that charge relatively low tuition. According to a recent EdChoice and ExcelinEd survey of more than 600 private schools in Florida, the average private school tuition was $9,500–about $2,000 less than the average tuition charged by private schools as last reported by the National Center for Education Statistics. Moreover, half of the schools responding to the survey charge $7,500 or less in tuition. As Randy Fullerton of Glendale Christian School indicated, “the school has kept tuition low so many lower-income students could receive the maximum tax-credit scholarship and attend school for almost nothing.”
Relatively low rates of tuition, combined with the support of private school choice programs, increase the likelihood that middle- and low-income families in Florida can afford a private school education if that is what they choose for their child. The average scholarship amount of $6,300 covers 84 percent of tuition at half of the private schools in Florida.
Moreover, private schools often help families who can’t close the 16 percent gap on their own. More than three-fourths of the state’s private schools (76 percent; 453 of 595 schools) indicated they provide some form of tuition assistance. Half of the schools provide financial assistance to at least three out of 10 students (30 percent) and half of the schools provide $2,000 or more in financial assistance per student.
Given these data points, it is unsurprising that more than one in four students attending Florida private schools use a scholarship through the FTC program. With the launch of the FES program this fall, we expect more students will follow suit.
Regardless of their socioeconomic status or zip code, all students deserve to have access to educational environments that best match their needs. As the Bellwether research demonstrates, there are numerous ways in which private schools across the nation are striving to increase access to students from middle- and low-income families. Certainly, as shown in Florida, private school choice programs can play an important role in increasing access. In Florida, many private schools are (1) reducing tuition rates; (2) participating in private school choice programs; (3) providing financial aid — with the result that many middle- and low-income Floridians have access to a private school education.
