CV NEWS FEED // Catholic schools in the Diocese of Des Moines are raising tuition by 10% in a preliminary phase of increasing tuition. The eventual goal is to have tuition cover the full cost of education.
“We are in the process of shifting our philosophy to set our tuition in a way that reflects the cost of educating students,” Diocese of Des Moines Communications Director Anne Marie Cox explained to KCCI, CBS’ Des Moines affiliate. “We’re going to adopt a phased-in approach for tuition beginning with the next school year. Costs continue to go up, and we need to make sure that we’re adequately compensating our teachers, our administrators and our staff.”
Cox explained that what diocesan schools spend per child is currently several thousand dollars more than the cost of tuition.
Iowa’s Education Savings Accounts (ESA) program, which sends taxpayer dollars to students to cover the cost of private school tuition, does not fully offset the cost of education. She added that Catholic schools are still dedicated to providing affordable education.
Dowling Catholic High School Principal Dan Ryan told parents in an email that the tuition raises at the school in West Des Moines will ensure competitive salaries for school faculty and staff, contribute to building renovations and maintenance, and improve the quality of the academic program.
