Enrollment Changes in St. Louis' Catholic Schools
Key Points
St. Louis City has experienced sharp population declines over the past five decades. As a result, both public and private school enrollment has been impacted. This brief examines changes to enrollment in schools under the Archdiocese of St. Louis, describing research on enrollment changes over the last ten years from the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and using data from the Private School Universe Survey (PSS) from the U.S. Department of Education over the last 20 years.* In doing so, we are able to describe trends in St. Louis and other major archdioceses. We conclude with highlights of the current strategic planning processes for the Archdiocese of St. Louis and other large archdioceses. We find:
Overall enrollment in Catholic schools within the entirety of the Archdiocese of St. Louis has decreased by 38% in the last ten years and roughly 50% since 2001-02, forcing school closures and consolidation.
Catholic schools in St. Louis City and county experienced a significant enrollment drop (57.5%) between 2001-02 and 2019-20, with a 43.9% drop occurring between 2009-10 and 2019-20.
Catholic school enrollment nationally has followed a downward trend over the last twenty years, decreasing 19% from 2001-2010 and 18% from 2010 to 2020, shrinking nearly 34% in total.
While Catholic school enrollment has declined nationally (3.8%), there are more pronounced declines in the 10 largest archdioceses (5.8%), including St. Louis.
Within the Archdiocese of St. Louis, declining enrollment in Catholic schools has been identified as a key component leading to the strategic planning initiative, “All Things New,” which has moved from the feedback to the planning phase; additional school consolidation and closures may be recommended, further shrinking school choice options.
*This brief has been updated from its original version for clarity. The Private School Universe Survey (PSS) data does not differentiate consistently between St. Louis City and county enrollment and therefore enrollment is reported as St. Louis City and county combined.
