In the diocese
Based on the 2007-2008 school year.
There are 31 Catholic schools in 20 cities.
Total enrollment is 7,702.
5,879 students are in elementary, while 1,835 are in secondary schools.
Eighty percent of students are Catholic and 20 percent are non-Catholic.
There are 592 prekindergarten students in Catholic preschools.
662 professional staffers work in Catholic schools.
Among professional staffers in the schools, 79 percent are Catholic and 21 percent are non-Catholic.
The average annual cost of educating one child in elementary school is $4,165. In secondary school the cost is $5,774.
The tuition in elementary schools range from $2,484 for Catholics to $3,469 for non-Catholics.
Secondary tuition ranges from $2,750 to $5,940.
The oldest school is Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock, established in 1851.
The newest school is St. Raphael in Springdale. It was established in 2007.
For more information about Arkansas’ Catholic schools, contact: Vernell Bowen, superintendent of schools at (501) 664-0340, e-mail vbowen@dolr.org or mail to: P. O. Box 7565, Little Rock, AR 72217. Look for additional information on the diocese’s Web site: www.dolr.org.
Across the nation
Based on the 2006-2007 school year.
There are 7,498 Catholic schools.
6,288 are elementary schools and 1,210 are secondary schools.
Thirty-six new schools opened; 212 consolidated or closed while 2,607 schools have a waiting list for admission.
Total enrollment is 2,320,651.
Minority student enrollment is 596,149, which is 25.7 percent of the total.
Non-Catholic enrollment is 320,615 which is 13.8 percent of all those enrolled.
There are 159,135 full-time professional staff in Catholic schools.
Among full-time professional staff, 95.6 percent are laypeople (74.5 percent women and 21.1 percent men); and religious and clergy make up 4.4 percent (sisters: 3.2 percent; brothers: 0.6 percent; and clergy: 0.6 percent).
The average tuition in elementary schools is $2,607, which is about 61.7 percent of the actual cost per pupil of $4,268. About 87 percent of elementary schools provide some form of tuition assistance.
The median secondary tuition is $6,906, which is about 80 percent of the actual cost per student of $8,743. About 97 percent of secondary schools provide some form of tuition assistance.
Source: “United States Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools 2006-2007: The Annual Statistical Report on Schools, Enrollment and Staffing” by the National Catholic Educational Association.
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