02/05/2025
How are private schools impacted by the inflow of government money? Will it make private school more affordable for all? Let’s take a quick look at how tuition looks now and how it can be impacted by ESA money.
What is the Cost of Private School in South Dakota?
These costs can vary depending on grade level, involvement in the church, and the number of family members enrolled. The following tuition rates do not include income or sibling discounts.
O’Gorman Catholic School $4,495- $8,580
St. Mary Catholic Schools $3,120-$4,155
Zion Lutheran School $2,940- $5,695
Sioux Falls Christian $6,250-$9,830
Sioux Falls Lutheran $6,300-$10,200
Families can apply for tuition assistance, scholarships, and sibling discounts. SD has an income based scholarship program to help lower tuition for families called South Dakota Partners in Education. This scholarship program is funded by the state giving tax credits to insurance companies.
Who qualifies for the South Dakota Partners in Education Tax Credit Scholarship?
SDPE is available for low income families to put toward tuition for private school. Students who have a household income under 150% of the federally set amount for reduced-price meals in the National School Lunch Program are eligible to apply. To put into context a household of 3 would need to fall below $71,650 (household income) to qualify. This metric is being used to prioritize families receiving ESAs.
Recently proposed ESA bills will allow eligible students to qualify for BOTH the SDPE scholarship and ESA money. With both programs using income based metrics, this will leave many middle class families left to compete for space and affordability.
https://sdpartnersinedu.org/families/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIM7tFleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHbbFqWZb9_X_rOZv-G_JeWHgjvRU1iPEB8vj4Tpn802XMZNF8WR8v7gBtg_aem_3Y1uZGwz7gjJARtLNyRMGQ -id-4
What Can Happen to Tuition if ESA’s are Passed?
Much like the rise in university and college tuition with the influx of federal funding options, states that have already implemented ESA programs have seen increases in private school tuition.
In Iowa: “Increases varied by the percentage of the grade eligible for ESAs. When eligibility was universal (kindergarten), private schools increased prices 21-25%, compared with 10-16% in grades with partial eligibility. In contrast, private schools did not increase tuition in pre-K, which was ineligible for ESAs. If a goal of ESAs is to extend private school access to new families, the substantial tuition increases they produce may limit access.” https://edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai24-949.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawIM7v1leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHcnNn9JKpcYaRUOqvc8BRGEXaJH8URK_aun67sfURno24KDSsjvlpikABg_aem_7LipKoWDuc0aW9Qoi9bAvw
In Arizona: From the article, "among 55 that posted their tuition rates, nearly all raised their prices since 2022. Some schools made modest increases, often in line with or below the overall inflation rate last year of around 6 percent. But at nearly half of the schools, tuition increased in at least some grades by 10 percent or more. In five of those cases, schools hiked tuition by more than 20 percent – much higher than even the steep inflation that hit the Phoenix metro area and well beyond what an ESA could cover."
https://azcir.org/news/2023/11/27/arizona-private-schools-hike-tuition-after-voucher-expansion/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0sIeF6v0KoDe44a-CksYDWGhkktVTL8JlRf2jxGuu4EjPDaTQuFsysYv4_aem__6yfAvjLHB11K6PyvdiXow
Former Governor Noem's budget allotted $4 million for an ESA program this year, but the proposed program would not begin to accept students until the '26-'27 school year. There are +/- 24,000 private and homeschool students in South Dakota. Without increasing this budget in the upcoming years, approximately 1,000 kids will receive assistance. The tuition of ALL students in the private sector will likely go up (as testified at the recent HB1020 hearings) and only a small percentage will receive the assistance to help bridge the difference.
States like Missouri and others require a year of public school prior to applying (as an attempt to give options to public school kids wanting to leave). Where will this leave private school families already out of the system?
What Will Happen to our Special Needs Community?
Open enrollment and private schools are allowed to decline the applications of students who have IEPs or special needs that can not be met by the school. These students will continue to be left behind and the only option for these kids are to attend the public school in their district or homeschool. The ESAs being proposed leave out funding for vital services like speech and OT. So where do THESE students end up? They will be forced to stay in understaffed and underfunded public schools.
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