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New Tax Credit Could Boost Catholic School Enrollment
· Confirmed
In Short: In Florida, Catholic school enrollment has increased by 12.1%, contrasting with the national decline of 13.2%.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law an expansion of school choice funding in Florida, making every family eligible for state funding of about $8,000 per child per year.
In Florida, Catholic school enrollment has increased by 12.1%, contrasting with the national decline of 13.2%. The Step Up For Students program, which administers state-funded K–12 scholarships, reports this surge.
According to the National Catholic Educational Association, 8% of Catholic school students use school choice programs, a nearly 5% increase from the previous year.
Sister Dale McDonald, vice president of public policy for the National Catholic Educational Association, expressed hope that the new tax credit could help families afford Catholic school tuition, potentially reducing the need for parents to work additional jobs.
The Treasury Department estimates that approximately 95% of American children live in households that meet the income limit for the scholarship tax credit.
In Oklahoma, Catholic school enrollment has seen a significant increase, with the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City adding 500 students to its base.
The report from the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs highlights that Florida has seen the largest growth in Catholic school enrollment (+12.1%) compared to the biggest decline in New York (-31.0%).
Greg Richmond, superintendent of the 154-school Archdiocese of Chicago school system, noted that the middle class is getting squeezed due to inflation, making it harder for them to afford Catholic school tuition.
Flynn and his wife hosted a gala fundraiser for a Catholic special education non-profit, raising funds to support grants for Catholic schools to enroll students with significant disabilities.
Education leaders are optimistic that the new tax credit could expand access to Catholic schools and help address financial challenges faced by families.
The National Catholic Educational Association’s latest report found that 6.6% of Catholic school students received Title I services during the 2025-2026 academic year.
What this adds
The new tax credit could help families afford Catholic school tuition, potentially reducing the need for parents to work additional jobs.
The report from the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs highlights the significant increase in Catholic school enrollment in several states with robust school-choice programs.
Education leaders are optimistic that the new tax credit could expand access to Catholic schools and help address financial challenges faced by families.
The gala fundraiser for a Catholic special education non-profit raised funds to support grants for Catholic schools to enroll students with significant disabilities.
Background
Education leaders say the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit could expand access to Catholic schools.
What's confirmed
- Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law an expansion of school choice funding in Florida, making every family eligible for state funding of about $8,000 per child per year.
- In Florida, Catholic school enrollment has increased by 12.1%, contrasting with the national decline of 13.2%. The Step Up For Students program, which administers state-funded K–12 scholarships, reports this surge.
- According to the National Catholic Educational Association, 8% of Catholic school students use school choice programs, a nearly 5% increase from the previous year.
- Sister Dale McDonald, vice president of public policy for the National Catholic Educational Association, expressed hope that the new tax credit could help families afford Catholic school tuition, potentially reducing the need for parents to work additional jobs.
- The Treasury Department estimates that approximately 95% of American children live in households that meet the income limit for the scholarship tax credit.
- In Oklahoma, Catholic school enrollment has seen a significant increase, with the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City adding 500 students to its base.
- The report from the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs highlights that Florida has seen the largest growth in Catholic school enrollment (+12.1%) compared to the biggest decline in New York (-31.0%).
- Greg Richmond, superintendent of the 154-school Archdiocese of Chicago school system, noted that the middle class is getting squeezed due to inflation, making it harder for them to afford Catholic school tuition.
- Flynn and his wife hosted a gala fundraiser for a Catholic special education non-profit, raising funds to support grants for Catholic schools to enroll students with significant disabilities.
- Education leaders are optimistic that the new tax credit could expand access to Catholic schools and help address financial challenges faced by families.
- The National Catholic Educational Association’s latest report found that 6.6% of Catholic school students received Title I services during the 2025-2026 academic year.
What's still developing
- According to the Florida state government there are currently “1.4 million students utilizing a school choice option in Florida.” Schultz emphasized the broader national impact of the Step Up For Students findings, particularly in the federal context.
- “We added 500 kiddos to our overall student base of kids,” said Lara Schuler, senior director of Catholic Education for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.
- In Oklahoma, the report shows the high point for private Catholic school enrollment in the last 10 years occurred in 2019, pre-COVID, when 9,710 Oklahoma students were enrolled in Catholic schools.
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- We need to have a development program of our own that is inviting people who are currently within our schools to consider becoming a principal and then supporting their development.
- I wasn’t here, but the Catholic schools in Chicago in most places opened for in-person instruction.
- A lot of people have a conception that the Catholic Church is very hierarchical: it starts with the Pope, and then everyone below the Pope just does what they’re told.
- When Catholics began coming to this country, there was no Catholic infrastructure to rival that of the places from which they’d come.
- In other words, we think Catholic schools are more Catholic when they include people with significant disabilities and learning differences, and that all students and faculty are much the better for knowing and including them.
- They built parish churches and schools and seminaries, universities and hospitals, so that Catholics would have places to be educated, formed, and treated, and so that the Church could exercise the ministries to which she’s been called.