Catholic school enrollment down again; numbers affected by Katrina

Published: 2006-04-20

ATLANTA (CNS) -- The number of students in Catholic schools again declined for the 2005-06 school year, according to an annual National Catholic Educational Association report. Total Catholic school student enrollment is 2,363,220, down 57,370, or 2.4 percent, from the year before, according to "United States Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools 2005-2006: The Annual Statistical Report on Schools, Enrollment and Staffing." The report was made available during the NCEA's 103rd annual convention in Atlanta. Meanwhile, 38 new schools opened, while 223 were consolidated or closed -- with the Archdiocese of New Orleans' schools excluded because of the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The current number of schools is 7,589. "These national enrollment trend data reflect a continued significant decline in the elementary school population and a slight decrease in secondary school enrollment," said an executive summary to the report by Sister Dale McDonald, a member of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the NCEA's director of public policy and educational research.

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