Statistical highlights of the ncea study include these:
StudentsThe average Catholic high school has 568 students.
52 percent of the students are female and 48 percent are male.
11 percent of the students are non-Catholic.
Almost 13 percent of students in the average Catholic high school receive some financial aid. The average award is about $517.
TeachersIn 1983-84, lay teachers constituted nearly 77 percent of the high-school teaching force, up from 30 percent in 1962.
In 1983, 14 percent of the teachers were nuns, compared with 49 percent in 1962.
Half of all full-time teachers have earned a master’s degree or higher.
The overall student-teacher ratio in the schools is 18 to 1, but in schools with enrollments under 300 it is 13 to 1, and in schools with more than 1,000 students it is 23 to 1.
Programs80 percent of high-school students are enrolled in a college-preparatory or academic program, and an estimated 83 percent of graduates enter college.
About 9 percent of students enroll in a general program and about 10 percent enroll in a vocational or business program.
One-third of the students take a third year of a foreign language and 16 percent take a fourth year.
Administration and GovernanceWomen who are members of religious orders hold 40 percent of the principalships and priests and3brothers hold 33 percent.
67 percent of school-board members are laity.
Facilities and ResourcesHalf of the high schools occupy buildings completed after 1956.
Mergers have occurred in the history of 14 percent of the schools.
16 percent have become coeducational.
22 percent are located in areas where 25 percent or more of the population is black, and 15 percent are in areas where at least 25 percent of the population is Hispanic.
Finances and DevelopmentAbout 60 percent of the income of the schools comes from tuition.
Median tuition is $1,230; median per-pupil expenditure is $1,783.
72 percent of schools indicate that, in the 1982-83 school year, their revenue was greater than or equal to their expenses; 11 percent indicated that their income covered 95 percent or less of their expenses.
Slightly more than half have a development office; 35 percent have a full-time development officer.
ParentsIn 1982-83, an average of 94 parents or family members contributed an average of 3,043 hours to each Catholic high school.
84 percent of the schools have parents’ organizations.
Low-Income Students82 percent of Catholic high schools enroll some students whose family income is below the federally determined poverty level; 8 percent have enrollments in which more than one-fifth of the students are from low-income families; 18 percent have no low-income students.
