Brent Labreche
Insurance Agency
Southwest Florida
Catholic Education Assistance
Knights of Columbus Granting Assistance for Catholic High School Tuitions
In the Diocese of Venice
Bradden R Kluesner
University of Notre Dame
Introduction
Tuition rates can pose significant financial challenges to Catholic families. The increased financial burden is especially poignant when children transition from a Catholic elementary school to a Catholic high school. Recent research indicates that the number one reason Catholic families do not continue their children’s education in a Catholic high school is that the tuition is too expensive (Huber, 2007). For example, a family in the Venice diocese might pay approximately $4,800 a year in 8th grade and pay nearly $7,900 the next year for high school. This difference in tuition cost can limit the accessibility of Catholic education for Catholic families of various socioeconomic classes, and ultimately shift the demographics of Catholic high schools (Baker & Riordan, 1998, 1999; Huber 2007).
In the Venice Diocese, a Catholic family could be asked to pay an estimated $3,000 or more in additional tuition when moving on from the Catholic elementary school to the Catholic high school. Huber (2007) explains that Catholic high schools, for the most part, are independent of parishes resulting in higher tuitions than the tuition of a Catholic parochial school. Moreover, Harris (2000) reminds us that subsidy from the general Catholic community is normally not part of a Catholic high school’s revenue. He writes, “Any discovery that Catholic secondary school leaders must fend for their fiscal selves would come as no surprise to a principal or school board member” (p. 66).
If Catholic high schools mainly operate independently, then commons sense tells one that tuition rates will rise in proportion to the rising costs of the operating budget because the major revenue sources for Catholic high schools are tuition, the efforts of development and fund raising (Harris, 2000) and the smallest portions coming from parish and diocesan subsidies and miscellaneous revenues. Tuition covers nearly 80% of the operating budget for Catholic high schools across the country in 1997-1998 (Tracy, 2001) and it has risen higher than both family income and the rate of inflation over the last 30 years (Huber, 2007). At the average Catholic high school in 1997-1998, parish and diocesan subsidy only made up $123,000 of the total operating budget of $3,366,000 (Tracy, 2001). Thus, development and fundraising can make the biggest difference in tuition costs.
This makes the movement for fund raising for financial aid and tuition assistance programs all the more pertinent. The importance of development and fund raising cannot be overstated because it is the revenue that fills the gap. Catholic high schools are trying to respond and make tuition assistance an institutional priority through scholarships, tuition reductions, grants, work studies, and asking parishes to sponsor students (Tracy, 2000). However, their efforts still simply depend on revenue generated. The Knights of Columbus have a special opportunity in the history of Catholic schools in America to support a tuition assistance program.
While Catholic schools in many parts of the country struggle to provide a quality, affordable education, the Knights of Columbus, the world’s largest lay Catholic organization with 1.7 million members, continues to set records for charitable giving and volunteer service. The Knights of Columbus website claims that in 2006, total contributions to charity reached over $143 million and the Knights volunteered over 68 million hours to charitable causes. Furthermore, over the past decade, cumulative figures show that the Knights have donated nearly 1.25 billion dollars. The Knights of Columbus have both the financial and social capital to help Catholic schools provide an affordable Catholic education.
A successful partnership between local Catholic Schools and the Knights of Columbus rests on the commitment and motivation of the local Knights of Columbus councils associated with Catholic Schools. This upcoming year, the Knights of Columbus in the Venice Diocese have decided to begin the process of financially assisting Catholic families to alleviate the increased expense of tuition incurred during the transition from elementary to high school. The first phase is to begin raising enough funds so a Catholic family can continue to pay the same tuition for Catholic high school as they do for Catholic elementary school. This effort can be divided into two parts. First, the Knights of Columbus Insurance Agency and benefactors will oversee a general fund at each high school supported through fundraisers. The second part will be at the council level. Each council will be encouraged to raise funds for the children of their members that will be matched from the general fund. In order to receive financial assistance, Knights with school-aged children will be required to attend at least one meeting a quarter, volunteer for one fundraising program a year, and assist with the Tootsie Roll Drive. Their son or daughter also must maintain a 3.0 GPA. Any Catholic father of an elementary student who is not a member of the Knights of Columbus will be welcomed and encouraged to join our organization.
Greeley, McCready, & McCourt’s (1976) research in their book, Catholic Schools in a Declining Church, demonstrated that people expressed a willingness to increase contributions to help a Catholic school not to close. Will Catholics today in the Venice Diocese be willing to contribute to a tuition assistance program sponsored by the Knights of Columbus to sustain and strengthen our Catholic schools? The U.S. Bishops (2005) are absolutely clear about our responsibility:
We call on the entire Catholic community—clergy, religious, and laity—to assist in addressing the critical financial questions that continue to face our Catholic schools. This will require the Catholic community to make both personal and financial sacrifices to overcome these financial challenges. The burden of supporting our Catholic schools can no longer be placed exclusively on the individual parishes that have schools and on parents who pay tuition.
In conclusion, the Catholic community and the Knights of Columbus must respond to the call of the U.S. Bishops; the Knights’ tuition assistance program is one important response to this call. Creating and sustaining partnerships whereby Catholic children can continue their education from Catholic elementary to Catholic high school promotes justice, serves the common good, and affirms that Catholic education is indeed an education for all (Congregation for Catholic Education, 1997).