Sutherland Press release on vouchers and the cost of private schools
Contact: Katie Christensen, Sutherland Institute
kchristensen@sutherlandinstitute.org
(801) 355-1272
Average Tuition at Utah’s Private Schools is $4,520
Vouchers Make Utah’s Private Schools Affordable for Low-Income Families
Salt Lake City, UT – September 27, 2007 – Independent research conducted by the non-profit Sutherland Institute shows the average tuition among the majority of voucher-eligible private schools in Utah is $4,520. And nearly 64 percent of these private schools are within the range of affordability for low-income families, having tuition below $4,500.
“Affordability is a subjective term,” said Sutherland Institute President, Paul T. Mero. “But consider a low-income family that receives the maximum school voucher amount of $3,000 per child. The difference between the average tuition rate and the maximum school voucher is $1,520, or $127 per month. That is less than the price of a car payment.”
Of the 88 voucher-eligible schools contacted, 64 responded. The responding schools reported annual tuition charges from $1,600 to $52,200. Only six private schools are clearly unaffordable for low-income families the new voucher law is primarily intended to serve. Those six were omitted from Sutherland’s results.
“In addition to being affordable, private schools in Utah are also convenient and accessible. These are important factors for the families that vouchers are primarily intended to serve,” said Mero. “The current supply of private schools in Utah is within close proximity to 85 percent of Utah’s school-age population.”
From its research conducted in August 2007, Sutherland Institute found that there are private schools in 17 of Utah’s 29 counties. Most private, public and charter schools are concentrated in the Wasatch corridor and the St. George area. In the most recent school year, these areas accounted for 85 percent of school-age children in Utah – which means the majority of school-age children have access to private schools that meet the qualifications to accept vouchers.
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About Sutherland
The Sutherland Institute is a conservative public policy think tank committed to shaping Utah law and policy based on a core set of governing principles. The Institute strives to make Utah an example of good government for the rest of the nation and a great place to live, work, and raise a family. Sutherland’s role in Utah’s current voucher debate is educational. Additional research on vouchers can be found at www.sutherlandinstitute.org/abcs.asp.
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Sep 27th 2007 • 18:09
by Part of the Plan
Once again, I stopped at “Independent research conducted by the non-profit Sutherland Institute”…
How many times do I need to explain this? “Independent research” and “Sutherland Institute” are mutually exclusive terms!
Duh! Get a grip people! They are pro-voucher! All of their “independent research”will mysteriously be pro-voucher!
Sep 27th 2007 • 23:09
by Tom Grover
These various methods of calculating the average are deceptive given that some calculations include certain schools and some don’t.
The more accurate statistic would be to figure out the median tuition. Anyone seen this stat anywhere?
Sep 28th 2007 • 10:09
by steep
The median number would likely be lower than $4520.
That single $52200 probably skews the average quite a bit.
Sep 29th 2007 • 12:09
by Paul Mero
Tom, the only reason average, or mean, private school tutition is relevant to this debate is because of the issue of affordability. To drop six schools that everyone can agree would be unaffordable for low-income families is not only good analysis, but simply reasonable.
PTM
Sep 29th 2007 • 12:09
by Tom Grover
Paul,
The $4500 you quote I believe is more accurate than the skewed $8000 quoted by UPS. However, the median would still be nice to know.
Oct 2nd 2007 • 10:10
by Derek Monson
Tom,
I got onto this blog string late, so I hope that you still get to read this. I am the one who put together the research discussed in this press release and wanted to let you know that the median tuition figure from the schools in our survey is $4445.