Pluralism, the Public Purse, and Education: An International Estimate of Savings to State Budgets from K-12 Catholic Schools

Abstract

According to Church statistics, the Catholic Church has 35 million children enrolled in its primary schools globally, and 20 million children enrolled in its secondary schools. At both levels, enrollment has increased over time globally. While there are debates on whether Catholic schools perform better than public schools, they clearly generate savings for state budgets in many countries since parents choosing these schools often pay for most of the cost of their children’s education. This paper estimates budget savings for states from Catholic schools in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and selected partner countries. In the 38 countries for which estimates are computed, total annual savings are valued at US$ 63 billion in purchasing power parity terms.

Keywords:

• primary education
• secondary education
• education budgets
• Catholic schools

Notes

1 See https://www.ncea.org/NCEA/Proclaim/Catholic_School_Data/Schools_and_Tuition.aspx.

2 The OECD member countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States.

3 ODA consists of disbursements of loans made on concessional terms (net of repayments of principal) and grants by official agencies. The agencies included are the members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), multilateral institutions, and non-DAC countries. Net ODA includes loans with at least a fourth comprised of grant elements, and factors in reimbursement of past loans.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Quentin Wodon

Quentin Wodon is a Lead Economist at the World Bank and a Distinguished Research Affiliate with the Kellogg Institute at the University of Notre Dame. The analysis and views expressed in this article are those of the author only and may not reflect the views of the World Bank, its Executive Director, or the countries they represent.