Archdiocese Of OKC Makes Tuition Changes To Catholic Schools In Wake Of Tax Credit

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is changing its tuition model for private Catholic Schools, and for some schools, that means an increase, in the wake of the new Parent Choice Tax Credit.

“There are things that they just needed to look at because of the times,” said Lara Schular, the Senior Director of Catholic Education.

Schular says Catholic schools in the archdiocese have simplified their tuition structures to better reflect the actual cost of educating each student, which on average is lower than the cost of educating students in a public school. That meant changing the tuition structure at its 15 elementary schools and removing discounts previously supported by the school parishes.

“The tuition structures at the elementary level have been really based strongly off of parish support to help parents to be able to afford that Catholic education,” she said. “People may have gotten used to some of those discounts but that's not actually the tuition for the school, the tuition for the school is that higher number because that's what it actually costs with those discounts, it means somebody else is paying that bill for them.”

Schular said they’ve also gone to a flat tuition rate.

“For some schools that wasn't much of a difference especially from their non-catholic rate for a couple of schools even that non-catholic rate came down a little bit,” she said. 

For some schools, there was an increase though. However, the changes, according to Schular, will keep the salaries of teachers and staff competitive while providing greater campus security. She also says these changes were coming regardless of the new Parental Choice Tax Credit which will give private school families up to $7,500 per student in relief.

“It's not a huge increase and you know it would have been harder before to make some of these changes,” Schular said. “I think it would have been more painful for parents had that happened earlier.” 

Along with the tax credit, Schular says students can also apply for other credits and scholarships along with additional support from the parish if needed.

“If they don't get it then there's still help available,” she said. “I think it's exciting for families to see that there are other options and that they might be able to do that now.”