All parents are dealing with rising costs of school supplies, school lunches and gas. But parents of children enrolled in private schools face additional sacrifices to continue to afford tuition.
At the same time, schools are making adjustments to make sure their enrollments don’t drop.
“It’s been a struggle,” said Frank Phillips, head of St. Mary’s School in Medford. “It’s a tough economy. I’m inspired by the lengths people go to to keep their kids in our school.”
Although classes at St. Mary’s started last month with a few more students than the last school year, Phillips said he is more concerned with the number of families requesting financial aid for this school year to help pay the $10,250 annual tuition.
The average cost last year for Catholic high schools in Oregon was $7,940, according to the Archdiocese of Portland.
St. Mary’s since 2001 has spent 12 percent of its operating budget on financial aid. That number recently climbed to 14 percent, with more than a third of families at the 6-12 school on financial aid.
“It’s going to be a tight year for us, but we’ve worked really hard to retain our families,” Phillips said. “We’ve had people apply for financial aid who have been in the school for years who have never needed it before.”
Which leads to an important issue facing private schools today, says Matt Powell, president of De La Salle North Catholic High School in North Portland. “How do you sustain tuition increases and continue to make it affordable to families?”
De La Salle North is seeing its largest incoming class this year, and part of the reason, says Powell, is because a handful of families struggling with tuition costs at other schools are transferring their kids to De La Salle. At $2,500 a year, tuition is lower at De La Salle; kids make up the rest through a work assistance program.
At Jesuit High School, about 20 percent of families receive financial aid, but enrollment has been consistent. The school puts a cap at about 1,150 students. Because most private schools don’t have buses to transport students, Jesuit High School President John Gladstone said parents face added expenses with clothes and transportation. He said a “green committee” of parents and students encourage the community to carpool to cut transportation costs.
Other schools have adopted similar sharing programs. In Eugene, Marist High School has promoted its textbook buyback and exchange to keep textbook costs down. Another help to families is that tuition there also pays for participation in athletic programs.
Marist Principal Jay Conroy says there has not been an enrollment drop, but he has received several phone calls from parents struggling with job layoffs and cuts in hours who need tuition assistance.
Robert Mizia, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Portland, said enrollment overall has been stable for several years, although a slight drop is to be expected due to the presently weak national economy. Some schools may feel the pinch more than others, he added.
“It’s a delicate issue at the high schools,” he said.
Still, school leaders agree, although private school tuition can strain families, it’s a worthwhile investment because it prepares kids well for college and adulthood.
Oregon’s community colleges and four-year public and private colleges this fall are also seeing enrollment increases as well. University of Portland, which started classes last week with 800 freshmen, is seeing one of its biggest classes in its 107-year history.
Admissions officers say when the economy bombs, college enrollment booms, primarily at the community college level.