EAST AURORA, NY — The Diocese of Buffalo is celebrating Catholic Schools Week in an effort to boost enrollment, but how much will going to a religious school cost you?
The diocese says the average tuition for a student in grades K to 8 is $5,094. The average cost per pupil is $7,928.
But the gap between tuition and total cost to attend is typically made up by fundraising, a parish subsidy, and scholarship options, according to the diocese.
"Without these scholarships, those educational opportunities are not possible, and what we want to advocate for is that every child has different needs, and people should be able to choose a school based on those individual needs their child has."
The Bison Fund is a scholarship organization dedicated to letting families choose their children's schools regardless of income. It has given away 1,900 scholarships to students from 77 schools in Western New York.
Its scholarship application closes on March 15.
For the students at Immaculate Conception, they are happy their education is a little different than their public school peers.
"It's really fun, we embrace our faith and its really nice and there's no bullying here, we go to church once a month"
'I love singing in the choir, I think I have a good voice or that's what my teacher says and I think it's a god given gift"
