Enrollment at Catholic schools this academic year has seen its largest drop in nearly half a century, according to a new report.
A data brief of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) showed that enrollment at Catholic schools was down 6.4% for the 2020-2021 school year—the biggest percentage drop in enrollment since 1973.
The overall number of students at Catholic schools declined by more than 110,000 for the present academic year, and more than 200 schools closed after the previous school year; these figures were included in the NCEA’s report “Catholic School Enrollment and School Closures, Post-COVID-19,” published on Feb. 8.
A large share of this decline was due to enrollment attrition at pre-Kindergarten schools.
“Of the net loss of 111,000 students to Catholic schools from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021, 40% of that loss can be attributed to Pre-Kindergarten related enrollment attrition,” the NCEA said. “This mirrors similar losses in public school preschool and Kindergarten enrollment.”
Catholic elementary education also saw a sharper decline, compared to Catholic secondary schools.
Enrollment at Catholic elementary schools was down 8.1% in 2020-2021, compared to a decrease of 2.5% Catholic secondary schools. The enrollment figures for secondary schools decreased the same amount in 2020-2021 compared to the 2019-2020 school year, but Catholic elementary schools lost nearly 5% more students this academic year than last year.
The drop in enrollment amid the COVID-19 pandemic far outpaces the declines that followed the Church’s 2002 clergy sex abuse crisis and the 2008 financial crisis.
Full story at Catholic News Agency.
Covid merely accelerated what was already going to happen. Many more Catholic schools will fold over the next five years.
United States Catholic parents face a double whammy: they pay property taxes for public schools but do not use them and they pay tuition [and likely other funndraisers] for Catholic schools. I know that in Canada, and believe in most European countries, the government pays equal tax support to all accredited schools, regardless of religious orientation.
Yes, and in Canada they are being indoctrinated into Planned Parenthood sex ed and gender confusion. The school boards have been taken over by those who push these evil agendas and the Bishops are acting like cowards sad to say and refusinf to challenge these infiltrators.
Our parish in western Missouri actually picked UP some students due to covid, since public schools are shut down except for virtual classes. Parents aren’t happy with virtual learning. Our school is running in class unless cold /weather prohibits, or covid exposure, which to my knowledge has not happened. They took precautions after holidays (thanksgiving, Christmas etc.) and held virtual classes but only for a week or two.
Don’t blame Covid… blame the unnecessary shutdown. Now we learn that Dr. Fauci, national mastermind of the Covid shutdown, frequented gay bathhouses in the 80s. Oh, supposedly it was all scientific, but reading between the lines we can figure out why he went there. The government is full of perverts and degenerates who are ruining the country. This Covid shutdown was supposed to be “two weeks to flatten the curve” and it’s now turned into a multi-year mask wearing, restricted activity government control of citizens. Stop falling for it. I’ve known healthy people who got Covid and all it was was a cold or a flu. People who have died have mostly been old or sick already of something else and any flu would have put them in jeopardy of dying. Please, let’s stop the insanity and start by ignoring the government officials and “expeerts” who are lying to us.
Enrollment in this area has increased….Catholic schools were the only ones open….