Dominating the headlines nearly everyday for the last few months has been news of the global economy and the major downturn it has taken. Companies are scrambling to stay afloat, individuals (and families) are looking closely at their budget and the U.S. government is on the verge of passing a major economic stimulus package. Naturally, that leaves me wondering what effect all of this has on private schools.
The answer is a bit fuzzy, since it is hard to pick one single measure to use as judgment. And it also depends on who is talking.
Across the pond, some parents in the United Kingdom are pulling their students out of private school, citing concerns about being able to pay the tuition. Of course, if I was paying tuition with investments now worth less than the cost of tuition, I’d be concerned too. And although they didn’t cite the economy, we’ve already seen at least one school in Canada offer free tuition to lure prospective students.
Jump to the U.S., though, and the picture is rather different, as private schools in Utah aren’t too concerned about the prospect of declining enrollment. Citing previous economic low points and the priority parent’s put on education, the prognosis looks good. That really underscores, for me, the nature of the recession we’re in: we are all watching what we spend, but we are still spending on what we need.
This takes me back to my point about how to measure a school’s success in weathering the economic storm we’re in. If we simply look at enrollment numbers, my guess is that it will remain fairly stable. What wouldn’t surprise me, though, is to see fewer total applications to private school for the 2009-2010 school year. Or, perhaps, fewer applications for the most expensive schools and an increase at the less expensive schools. And none of that takes into consideration that perhaps there will be more parents looking at financial aid.
So that’s why it’s such a difficult question to answer. We probably won’t have a good answer until the economy is well on its way to recovery and we see some more statistics. But one thing is certainly clear to me: no matter the economy, our children’s education remains high on the priority list.
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