How much does Christian school tuition cost on average?

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Accepted Answer

Less than most families fear, and it varies more by region and school type than by almost anything else. The federal Private School Universe Survey, run by the National Center for Education Statistics, put average private school tuition at $12,790 a year in its 2020-21 survey. Schools in the survey's "other religious" group, the category that includes most Christian schools, averaged about $10,910 in the same 2020-21 survey, compared with about $9,720 at Catholic schools and about $19,590 at nonsectarian schools. In many parts of the South and Midwest, established Christian schools charge between $5,000 and $9,000 a year; in major metro areas and at independent college-preparatory schools, prices run well above the average.

Tuition is not the whole bill. Ask each school for its full cost picture: enrolment and book fees, uniforms, transport, lunch, and any required technology. Then ask the aid question in the same conversation. Many Christian schools run their own need-based aid, sibling discounts and payment plans, and in states with school choice programmes a state scholarship may cover much of the tuition before the school's own aid is counted. The honest way to compare two schools is net cost for your family, not the sticker price on either website.