The national average for a private education in high school is $13,538 per year from a 2016 study. Catholic school was once accompanied by the image of a nun beating knuckles with a yard stick in class for bad behavior. Comparing private versus public education apples to apples is not an easy task and parents with the best in mind for their children flirt with the idea constantly.
How do I pay for private education?
One of the biggest discussions for private education is, should this money be used to put my child into a high school when college is right around the bend? With the tuition of private schooling being where it is, it can be very difficult for families to have the ability to supply the type of fund needed.
Companies like BLOCS, work day in and day out to use corporate donations, with a percentage of return on their taxes, to aid families attempting to get catholic educations for their children. “It’s about seeing the satisfaction of the families that we help,” executive director Bill O’Brien said. “These families are looking for an advantage for their child and they want to give them the best education possible.”
Are these schools better for my child?
In terms of the quality of education, the main characteristic that is looked at is how the school is ranked by the test score and success of their students. It can be helpful to look at rankings for private and public, published by companies like Niche, that have formulas that consider things like SAT scores, “top college” list scores, enrollment rates to college and diversity grades.
Student-teacher ratio is also a good thing to look at when looking at the school because it can completely change the experience for the student. With no control over the population growth of a town, public schools will have to obtain the same amount of expected results regardless if they have 100 students or 700 students in one grade.
Public schools can have their advantages due to funds and municipalities that are provided to jumpstart the educational system. These funds go towards programs, supplies, qualified teachers, transportation and much more.
However, if the township is not as wealthy as others, these items and areas are the ones that will be shorted if a budget is lacking. This may lead to fewer opportunities for the students as well as the possibility of dropping a sports or art program.
How important is religion for my child?
Families who have strong backgrounds in religion may be more inclined to having their tradition live on through their kids being devoted to the Catholic lifestyle. This can be an incentive for families to put their money forward as an investment in their child’s future.
“By [enrolling in Catholic school], the Catholic students won’t have to register to attend separate religious classes (CCD) in order to make their communication and/or confirmation sacraments,” senior education major Katie Rizzo said. “They will be taught the required curriculum while attending Catholic school.
How will this affect my child’s social life?
Children who attend a private institution can see the impact directly in their circle of friends. In public education, classes change every year in terms of what “team” you are on, who is in your homeroom and what lunch period you have.
This creates the opportunity to meet a lot of people and interact with them on a daily basis. It is possible to see this as a pro or a con because every child is different socially. Private schools tend to have less student enrollment, which means more interaction with each individual. Whereas public schools have the potential for a large student enrollment, which in turn will result in less individual interaction.
According to a study done by the National Center for Education Statistics, in the 2015-16 school year, there was an estimate 3.2 million public school graduates with only about 300,000 private school graduates at the high school level.
Senior Elena Conway attended Merion Mercy High School for girls while having a background of public education. “Just being in that environment where everyone wanted to see each other do well really gave me a lot of confidence,” Conway said. “It was nice to not have as many people in a class and all the teachers really got to know everyone.”
So…
Making a decision for a child’s education is not something that should be taken lightly. The fundamental upbringing for a child creates the foundation for what kind of person they will be in the future. Regardless if your investment is one that carries currency, invest in your children and their education.
