Private-school enrollment falls, requests for aid are up

TACOMA — Enrollments are down and requests for financial aid are up as private schools in Washington feel the recession's pinch.

Across the state, enrollment in private elementary and secondary schools has fallen 8 to 10 percent this year, said Judy Jennings, executive director of the Washington Federation of Independent Schools.

Many schools have had smaller entering classes, particularly in elementary grades. Schools that have been able to maintain enrollment often attribute that to increased financial aid.

Last year, Tacoma's Bellarmine Preparatory School gave out $1.6 million in financial aid to about 270 of its 985 students, said Jack Peterson, president of the Catholic high school. In 2009-2010, that could reach $2 million, he said.

"We just bit the bullet and asked, 'Would we rather run a deficit because we gave out more financial aid or because enrollment declined?' We wanted to keep families here," Peterson said.

Most of Bellarmine's financial aid is funded by endowments, which are shrinking as a result of the poor investment market.

"Our endowment is going from $900,000 to $500,000, and our financial aid is potentially up $400,000," Peterson said. "It's a double hit."

Paul Bethke, executive director of Concordia Lutheran School in Tacoma, said enrollment is down 15 percent from last year at the pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade school, while the number of financial-aid requests has tripled from three years ago. There are 280 students enrolled at Concordia Lutheran, and 120 at its associate, Mount Rainier Lutheran High School.

"We used to be full by March, with waiting lists," Bethke said, but families are now postponing enrollment until late August or even September.

Cascade Christian Schools, which serves 2,000 students in five schools across Pierce County, has seen a 7 percent drop in elementary enrollment and a 25 percent increase in financial aid requests, said Superintendent Don Johnson.

"The elementary grades are where people seem to be a little more hesitant," he said.

Tuition costs vary widely at private schools, from about $5,000 a year at some Catholic elementaries to about $20,000 for upper grades at Tacoma's Charles Wright Academy.

While money is always a challenge for the schools and for parents, "I think people feel that that's what they want for their kids and are trying to find a way to make it happen," Schafer said.