Revealed: How much Catholic school fees would jump without funding

The Catholic school sector has revealed how much school fees would be if state and federal funding was removed. For one school it would mean a huge increase.

Hunters Hill mum Anne Fehon said she’s “happy” to make financial sacrifices to sent son Patrick to elite private school St Ignatius’ College Riverview and daughter Bridgit to Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College. Picture: Thomas Lisson

Regional voters are being warned they could be forking out tens of thousands of dollars a year in additional school fees if taxpayer funding for private schools is threatened, as new research reveals one in five families are already taking on debt to cover educational costs.

The peak body for NSW’s Catholic schools has ramped up its political campaign to defend current spending on non-government schools, publishing an online calculator allowing all private school families to look up how much their school fees would – hypothetically – increase if government funding was removed.

The figures, which are calculated based on per-student state and federal funding data, range from as little as $3600 extra per year at wealthy schools like Shore in North Sydney, to nearly $48,000 at the tiny St Patrick’s Parish School in Trundle, 50km northwest of Parkes.

Parents at St Mary’s Catholic College in Casino would be up for $23,720 extra, with the federal government currently spending $18,500 per student and the NSW government contributing a further $5000.

In a survey of 495 parents, commissioned by Catholic Schools NSW, 10 per cent said they would be unable to afford to continue sending their child to a Catholic school if the government cut funding, while one in three said their family could “comfortably afford it”.

Nearly 20 per cent of Catholic and private school parents reported having taken on debt to pay for fees, as did 11 per cent of public school parents.

It comes as public school funding emerges as key policy issue ahead of the federal election, after the Albanese government struck a long-awaited deal with NSW to increase its share of the total cost.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare (right), NSW Education Minister Prue Car (second from left) and Teachers Federation President Henry Rajendra (left) during an event at the NSW Teachers Federation headquarters to launch a high-impact election campaign to protect the new school funding agreement. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Catholic Schools NSW CEO Dallas McInerney said non-government schools welcome the increased funding for their public school counterparts, but insisted “misinformation” about his sector had been spread in the process.

“The public education lobbyists have, for the last two years, attacked the non-government (school) funding model as a means for making the case of their own,” he said.

“They’ve talked about it being unfair … at the expense of the public funding for public education. None of that’s true.

“It is more thoroughly means-tested and reviewed more regularly than Medicare ever has or will be.”

Catholic Schools NSW CEO Dallas McInerney.

Council of Catholic School Parents chairwoman and Hunters Hill mother of two Anne Fehon pays fees of up to $40,000 per year to send her son and daughter to elite private Catholic schools St Ignatius College Riverview and Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College, sacrificing “family holidays and fancy cars” to do so.

“It’s a significant amount of money you’re spending on their education … but we’re happy with the decision that we’ve made,” she said.

Anne Fehon said while her family can afford higher fees for her kids’ schools, many parents cannot. Picture: Thomas Lisson

North Albury mum Marg Stewart and her son Benjamin, who recently graduated from Xavier Catholic College.

While her family would be able to absorb a cut to Riverview’s $6000 per year in taxpayer funding, parents of local parish schools would not be so lucky, Mrs Fehon said.

Single mum and proud Wiradjuri woman Marg Stewart sent her youngest children, 14-year-old Isabella and 18-year-old Benjamin, to Xavier Catholic College in North Albury after one of her older daughters was advised to drop out of her public high school in Year 10.

Catholic Schools NSW's updated federal election campaign website.

The current $5000 per year tuition fee is “a struggle now” she said, and any significant increase would put Isabella’s continued education there out of reach.

“It’s very disappointing that the government doesn’t highlight the importance of her education and my decision to choose to send her here,” Ms Stewart said.
To access the full Catholic schools fees calculator, click HERE.