Catholic schools see enrollment grow for the first time in 20 years

Enrollment at K-12 Catholic schools in the United States increased for the first time in 20 years in the 2021-2022 school year amidst unrest over school closures and mask mandates.

The annual report from the National Catholic Educational Association found that Catholic schools saw a 3.8% increase in enrollment, from 1.62 million to 1.68 million. The bump is the largest increase ever recorded by the organization and the first increase in 20 years.

“Catholic schools innovated throughout the last two years to meet the needs of their communities,” the NCEA said in its report. “They need to continue to adapt to those needs and use the momentum to retain students and recruit new students in the upcoming years to stabilize or continue to increase enrollment.”

The increase is welcome news after the last school year, where enrollment fell 6.8% and over 200 Catholic elementary and secondary schools were closed due to pandemic lockdowns.

In the 2020-2021 school year, most Catholic diocese successfully fought to open their schools to in-person instruction. This was a stark contrast to public schools, who were criticized for dragging their feet on reopening, and likely a large part of renewed interest in Catholic schools.

The report also touted continued diversity amongst enrolled students. 18.6% were Hispanic that year and 20.3% are non-Catholic faith.

The NCEA also studied educator retention for the first time this year and found it had retained 89% of principals and 86% of teachers from Fall 2020 to Fall 2021.