Study says poor students do better at Catholic than at public schools

Published: 2008-05-29

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- New research shows that poor and marginalized students attending Catholic schools have significantly higher retention and graduation rates than their peers in public schools. Conducted by Loyola Marymount University's School of Education in Los Angeles, the study focused on a group of Catholic school students in Los Angeles. All of the students received tuition funding from the Catholic Education Foundation of the Los Angeles Archdiocese between 2001 and 2005. According to the researchers, this study was the first time the foundation opened its records to a university and provided Catholic school data in such detail. Information on the study was released by the Catholic university May 19. The study followed 603 students from eighth to ninth grade and 205 students from ninth grade to high school graduation at about 30 schools in Southern California.

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