Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Kevin ClarkeJanuary 26, 2018
DePaul University, in Chicago, is the largest Catholic university in the United States. (iStock)DePaul University, in Chicago, is the largest Catholic university in the United States. (iStock)

Most folks have surely noticed that the cost of U.S. higher education has been on the rise, but the steepness of that ascent may come as a shock. In 1971 students could expect their annual tuition to claim a little over 10 percent of the U.S. personal median annual income at a public university and 48 percent of median income at a private school.

Today they will have to cough up 110 percent of the median income for private tuition and 32 percent of it for public school. That latter burden surely represents a more manageable cost, but it is three times the ’71 figure.

On a more positive note, perceptions of Godless higher ed aside, if your Catholic kids go to a Catholic institution, almost 90 percent of them will still be Catholic when it is time to wear the cap and gown.

Note: The print version of this story erroneously refers to median family income rather than median personal income.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
JR Cosgrove
7 years 6 months ago

Maybe there should be a discussion of what has caused the increase in tuition costs? But more importantly

What is the purpose of a Catholic College.

When I went to a Jesuit college, it was obviously to get an education but one that was influenced in every way by Catholicism. Today, I doubt that is the objective let alone the end result. Why would half the attendees be non-Catholic if it was so? And why would so many of the professors be atheist. So I repeat,

Why Catholic Colleges?

Ruth Kier
7 years 6 months ago

I found the post as interesting and edifying. Since the cost of U.S. higher education is on the rise, it is an alarming problem and many of the students are not able to afford the cost of U.S. higher education. The article is superbly written and it addressed the issue in a way to attract the attention of readers easily. If you are looking for essay writing or any articles related to the above post, ensure to visit the websites or blogs like this.
https://www.essayschief.com/

The latest from america

Pope Leo said that if the teen “had come all the way to Rome, then (the pope) could come all the way to the hospital to see him.”
A Reflection for Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time, by Molly Cahill
Molly CahillAugust 04, 2025
As emergency workers searched for survivors and tried to recuperate the bodies of the dead, Pope Leo XIV offered his prayers for people impacted by the latest shipwreck of a migrant boat off the coast of Yemen.
Catholic News ServiceAugust 04, 2025
The Archdiocese of Miami celebrated the first Mass for detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz,” the Trump administration’s controversial immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades.