Iowa’s private schools moving toward ‘cost to educate’ tuition model

Tuition increases at Eastern Iowa private schools are aiding in raising staff wages to more closely align with what public school teachers are paid.

Some educators say the tuition increases are possible because of Education Savings Accounts, taxpayer-funded financial assistance to attend a private K-12 school.

More non-public schools in Iowa also are pursing accreditation, a requirement for their families to receive Education Savings Accounts.

Even with an Education Savings Account, families could be paying thousands out of pocket for tuition at a private school in Iowa. For the 2025-26 school year, Education Savings Accounts will provide $7,988 per student.

Tuition for private school in Eastern Iowa ranges from $9,750 to $14,600 among the schools whose leaders spoke with The Gazette.

Twenty-five non-public schools across Iowa were new or newly accredited during the 2024-25 school year, including Calvary Christian Academy in Cedar Rapids, which opened last fall to K-8 grades.

This is more than double the number of non-public schools listed by the Iowa Department of Education as newly accredited during the 2023-24 school year.

While it takes about three years for the accreditation process to be completed, families with students accepted at those schools may be eligible now for the Education Savings Accounts.

Beginning this fall, all K-12 students in Iowa are eligible for the accounts regardless of income. The accounts were signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds in January 2023 and are being phased in over a three-year period.

The window to apply for Education Savings Accounts for the 2025-26 school year closes June 30.

The Urban Education Network of Iowa — which represents the largest public school districts in Iowa — opposes expansion of programs and plans that redirect public funds for private school. The organization supports several legislative fixes and policy corrections that would “minimize harmful impacts (of Education Savings Accounts) on public schools,” according to their 2025 legislative priorities.

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Private schools working to match public school salaries

A bill signed into law by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in March 2024 requires public schools to pay first year teachers $50,000 by this fall, and $62,000 for teachers with at least 12 years' experience. Private schools, including Xavier Catholic Schools in Cedar Rapids, are trying to match that.

Chris McCarville, president of Xavier Catholic Schools — eight metro area schools serving preschool-12th grade — said the Catholic schools began looking at how to feasibly increase teacher pay in fall 2021 before Education Savings Accounts existed.

“At Xavier High School, we were at 78 percent of what our public school counterparts were offering. There was a substantial gap there. We went to work pretty aggressively,” McCarville said.

They set a goal for staff salaries to be in the 90th percentile of their public school counterparts, which includes Cedar Rapids, College Community and Linn-Mar school districts. They have since achieved that.

“The challenge for us now is to remain competitive,” McCarville said.

McCarville said Xavier has been able to attract and retain “really good teachers” over the last four years as they steadily increased salaries. This year, they retained 94 percent of their certified teaching staff.

“That speaks not only to the salary increases we’ve been able to provide here, but also it says something about your community. I think our teachers really enjoy everything the Xavier Catholic Schools experience has to offer,” McCarville said.

At Xavier Catholic Schools, tuition ranges from $8,500 to $11,800, depending on grade level. The tuition rate for in-parish families is lower.

Education Savings Accounts have “provided that opportunity to move closer” to charging a tuition rate closer to the cost of educating a student, McCarville said.

“It’s pretty incredible what we’ve been able to do for so many years not covering that actual cost. That’s where parishes and donors have helped support us,” McCarville said.

Parishes provide about $4 million in support for the schools each year, he said.

Education Savings Accounts makes private school ‘more accessible’

Xavier Catholic Schools is seeing an increase in enrollment with about 175 more students K-12. The majority of these students are enrolling in elementary school, McCarville said.

During the 2024-25 school year, about 65 percent of families were using Education Savings Accounts. McCarville said he expects even more this year since all families who live in Iowa are eligible.

Education Savings Accounts make private, Catholic education “more accessible,” McCarville said.

“Maybe in the past families have wanted to attend one of our schools but financially couldn’t afford it. Now, they have help paying tuition,” McCarville said “It’s been a wonderful thing to see. So many families probably desired an education like ours in the past. To have those families be part of our community has been a real blessing over the last three years … We embrace it”

McCarville said there’s room for more students to enroll in Xavier Catholic Schools — especially 6-12th grade. The school is currently remodeling the former Toyota Financial Services building in Cedar Rapids into its new middle school.

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Some of the elementary schools are at capacity in certain grade levels though, McCarville said.

The “million dollar question” is what’s next for their facilities.

“We’re taking a look at do we have the capacity to serve the students and families who want to be here,” McCarville said.

Tuition, however, remains earmarked for staff salaries and routine building maintenance, he said.

Regina moves to ‘cost-to-educate tuition model’

Regina Catholic Education Center in Iowa City is moving this fall to a “cost-to-educate tuition model.” The K-12 school is moving from 12 different tuition rates to one tuition rate of $10,300 for the 2025-26 school year.

This is a change from the average cost of tuition at Regina Catholic Education Center across 12 rates of $10,687 plus fees during the 2024-25 school year.

Base salaries for teachers at Regina schools has increased $11,000 from five years ago up to $45,500.

“ESAs have not directly enabled Regina to raise tuition or increase teacher pay. Our tuition historically follows the Consumer Price Index,” said Angela Olson, Head of School at Regina.

“Tuition changes have not driven compensation increases. Instead, a revised budgeting approach and a long-term goal of appropriate compensation have caused us to prioritize teacher pay,” Olson said in an email to The Gazette.

The school is reaching capacity, with 1,000 students expected this fall. The K-12 capacity is just under 1,100 students, Olson said.

The focus now is on retaining current families, Olson said.

Enrollment into Regina has steadily increased since 2019, and school leaders are assessing how to optimize existing space, Olson said.

"While growth trends suggest expansion may be worth exploring, no decisions or formal plans have been made at this time.“ Olson said.

Summit Schools adds staff

Summit Schools, a private school in Cedar Rapids with no religious affiliation, increased its tuition by $6,000 last year after keeping costs lower for families during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

School leaders cited inflation and a desire to reduce the dependency on fundraising for increasing the K-8 school’s tuition to $14,350 — a roughly 77 percent jump — for the 2024-25 academic year.

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There is a smaller 2 percent increase in tuition — about $250 — for the 2025-26 school year, up to $14,600 for K-8th grades.

Summit Principal April Bickford said about 30 students left the school last year because of the tuition increase.

Bickford said they made up for families leaving in new enrollments. Today, enrollment is “the highest it’s ever been” with about 117 students planned for the 2025-26 school year, she said.

The tuition increases are enabling the school to give teachers a 13.5 percent salary increase, Bickford said. Base salary for first year teachers is $41,500 at Summit.

The school is working on creating a new pay scale to be implemented for the 2026-27 school year that aligns with state standards for public schools, she said.

The school also added two new staff members — a reading and math interventionist and instructional coach to support teachers.

Bickford said she would love to hire more support staff, including another administrator, guidance counselor who could provide social emotional instruction in the classroom, and enrichment teacher to support high-ability students.

The school is considering a capital campaign to fund facility investments that could include renovations to their current building or the purchase of a new building and renovations to that.

The cost estimates for the project ranges from $2 million to $11 million, depending on the scope of work, Bickford said.

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Tuition goes toward salaries

Jodi Jonasson, director of operations & development and marketing & admissions at Trinity Lutheran School in Cedar Rapids, said they’re working on increasing staff salaries to align with cost of living increases.

Tuition at Trinity Lutheran is $9,570 for elementary school and $9,950 for middle school, an increase from $7,850 during the 2024-25 school year.

“We’re still not charging tuition of what it takes to educate a student here, but we focus it on salaries and benefits. That’s something we’re really proud of — the majority of tuition goes toward staff salary and benefits,” Jonasson said.

At Trinity Lutheran, first year teachers are paid $41,500. But Jonasson said there are “intangible” incentives to working at Trinity Lutheran, such as the class sizes that are capped at 24 students and additional classroom support.

Tuition increases also reflect the increased maintenance cost of their building and increased cost of insurance and utilities, she said.

The school is considering a $15.9 million capital campaign in the next few years to fund a building remodel and expansion.

“We’re living in a building built in the 1950s, and we’ve made it work, but it’s time to address some issues. We’re outgrowing our spaces,” Jonasson said.

Tuition at Hillcrest Academy in Kalona is $10,200 for middle school and $12,500 for high school. This is a change from $11,000 for 6-12th the year before, which also was the school’s first tuition increase in five years, Principal Dwight Gingerich said.

Today’s salary for first-year teachers at Hillcrest is $41,600. They are working toward salaries that are 95 percent of what neighboring public school districts pay, Gingerich said.

The school’s enrollment of 180 student is close to the building’s capacity. A large part of the school’s growth over the last few years is the addition of 6-8th grade beginning in 2023.

Jeremy Ours, Hillcrest’s director of advancement, said they are “very likely” to have facility projects in the next couple years.

“These capital project conversations going on long before ESA legislation happened,” Ours said. Renovations and construction would be funded by a capital campaign ”just like it always is.“

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com