Blog: Investing in Your Child's Education

By Paul Davis ’81, President, Father Ryan High School 

This fall, across Nashville and the country, families visit independent (private) schools like Father Ryan High School to choose their student’s next educational chapter.  

Tuition, the primary source of funding for private schools, is an important consideration when selecting where your child will attend school. Understanding tuition models and the value of investing in a private school education are key issues for many families this (and every) admissions season.  

We understand that tuition is a significant investment for families, and we respect and acknowledge the sacrifices many families make to attend Father Ryan. To help demystify tuition at Father Ryan, allow me to dive deeper into our approach to setting tuition and explain how that money supports the school. 

Our mission is our North Star. 

Our mission—to be an experience of the living Gospel while challenging students to reach their spiritual, academic, and personal potential—is at the center of everything we do, including setting tuition. Tuition funds the unique programs and experiences that are signature to Father Ryan and provides financial support that allows us to remain accessible to all who seek an excellent Catholic education. These are the most critical ways we keep our mission alive and flourishing.  

How is tuition set each year?  

Private school tuition is set annually by the school’s board based on the school's budgetary needs, including funding salaries, wages, and benefits for faculty and staff, facility maintenance and upgrades, security programming, supplies, and more. At Father Ryan, we announce tuition with re-enrollment in January/February each year, following the approval of the annual operating budget by the Leadership Team, Board of Trustees, and Diocese of Nashville. 

Does tuition fully fund the school?   

While revenue from tuition typically covers a majority of a school’s operating budget and cost to educate, it does not cover the full costs of educating a student at Father Ryan—nor do we ever expect that to be the case. This is true for any private school. Father Ryan, like all private schools, also relies on funding from gifts to the Annual Fund, income from the school’s endowment and fundraising events, and revenue from renting campus spaces.  

At Father Ryan, there is a gap between tuition and the actual cost of educating a Father Ryan student. Currently, tuition covers approximately 70% of the cost to educate. As part of our Strategic Plan to build a strong financial foundation for the future and align more closely with best practices for private schools, starting in the 2024-2025 school year, we initiated efforts to close that gap with the goal of aligning closer to 80%. 

How does Father Ryan’s tuition compare to others within the community? 

Nashville is a competitive market, and our research tells us that our spend per student compares very favorably in our community. Most importantly, the excellent Catholic education we provide and our continually expanding programmatic opportunities differentiate Father Ryan. For example: 

• This fall, we launched our Dual Enrollment Program, which allows our students to receive college credit. We have 42 students participating across seven courses that are taught by our teachers, and we plan to expand this offering in the coming years.  

• In 2020, we made a programmatic, mission-central decision to create our House System,  which has transformed our school community and sense of belonging. We are the largest private high school in Nashville, and our House System has made a large school much smaller. Our robust House programming with its leadership development was the right decision for our students, but it is not without a price tag.  

• High school students today need deeper connections to career possibilities. We are exploring opportunities for students to participate in shadow programs and internships with our expansive alumni network to make earlier connections and proactively consider career paths. 

What is the “return on investment” for a family paying tuition? 

This is personal for each individual family. It is important to explore schools that are aligned with your values and your child’s interests, strengths, and needs. 

Pay close attention to the school’s outcomes, not just where students attend college, but if they become leaders. In addition to academic life, are they active on campus and in community service? As a high school educator at Father Ryan for my entire 39-year career, I can tell you that the more rewarding the high school experience, the more rewarding the college experience. 

Tuition-charging institutions hardly have a “lock” on this, but tuition revenue often creates more programs and distinctive high school experiences. What is important to your child and family as you consider the right high school fit? Research and weigh the depth of those opportunities at the different schools. 

At Father Ryan, we take very seriously the stewardship of tuition dollars. We return the investment of the families who choose a Father Ryan education through the powerful, enduring impact of the Father Ryan experience. From the spiritual formation of students to our unique approach to academic advancement through our four levels of learning to the development of a lifelong community, our experience and culture are rooted in the Catholic faith, inclusive to our entire community, and continue our century-long educational tradition. 

Additionally, tuition is paramount to recruiting and retaining the highest caliber of faculty and staff. These members of our community are the backbone of our school, and high-quality faculty and staff are in high demand throughout Nashville. Our teachers are the path to superior educational outcomes. The unmatched dedication of exceptional faculty and staff is the greatest investment any school makes in the student experience—this is especially true at Father Ryan. 

Is Father Ryan subsidized by the Diocese of Nashville? 

Father Ryan has a very supportive relationship with the Diocese of Nashville. We work together with Diocesan oversight to ensure that Father Ryan provides a strong faith formation for our community rooted in the Catholic tradition. While we collaborate in many ways and benefit financially from certain things such as participation in the Diocesan benefit plans, there is no direct financial contribution from the Diocese of Nashville to Father Ryan that subsidizes tuition. 

How has tuition at Father Ryan changed this year? 

Father Ryan’s vision is to be a superior Catholic high school, providing excellence in religious and moral formation, academics, athletics, and the arts while remaining accessible to those seeking an education in the Catholic tradition. To achieve this, we must make sure we are on strong financial footing that will 1) financially support the faculty, staff, programs, and campus that differentiate Father Ryan, and 2) enable the school to offer more robust tuition assistance to those who are unable to afford an independent school but seek the Father Ryan experience.  

After careful evaluation in recent years, we realized that our previous approach of setting tuition and the large gap we were allowing between tuition and the cost to educate was putting us at risk of being able to achieve our vision.  To change course and put the school on the strongest financial footing possible for the next 100 years, beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, we started implementing the following changes:  

1. Aligning more closely to the cost to educate, getting Father Ryan closer to covering ~80% of the cost to educate and to decrease our tuition gap. 

2. Moving to a single tuition rate for all families, as opposed to subsidized and unsubsidized tuition rates for different families. We spent significant time researching Catholic high schools across the country and learned that offering a subsidized tuition rate for certain Catholic families is not a common practice among Catholic high schools. We understand this is a significant change, which is why we are communicating now and taking steps to phase this in over time.  

• Only students who currently attend Father Ryan as of the 2024-2025 school year and receive the subsidized tuition rate will continue to receive a subsidized tuition rate. 

• Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, ALL new students will have the same, standard tuition rate, even if they have an older sibling who receives the subsidized rate. 

3. Change our approach to multi-student tuition discount: We are deeply proud of the many families who send multiple siblings and generations to Father Ryan and have adjusted our multi-student tuition discount. Instead of the previous flat $1,100 discount, this year the discount was changed to 10% of tuition, thus ensuring this benefit remains proportionally aligned with the current tuition rate. Our goal is to increase this discount even more in future years. 

How do these changes support our mission? 

Making these changes aligns with our Strategic Plan and supports the mission and vision of Father Ryan in three key ways: 

• Financial Stability: We are focused on our sustainability and viability for the next 100 years. Improving access to high-quality Catholic education and flourishing for generations through a more sustainable model of revenue vs. expenses are key objectives of our new Strategic Plan which we launched this summer. (Read the plan’s overview on our website.)  

• Accessibility: When tuition for every student is closer to the actual education cost, more funds become available for tuition assistance for those who are unable to afford an independent school but seek the Father Ryan experience. To illustrate: currently, 25% of Father Ryan families utilize our tuition assistance program. For 2024-2025, we provided $1.8 million in tuition assistance, fulfilling 53% of families’ need, up from 48% the year prior. With our new tuition model, we expect our tuition assistance provided to increase in the coming years, moving even closer to our goal of fulfilling 90% of financial needs to make Father Ryan more accessible to more families. 

• Unity: A single tuition model promotes unity among us all and in every way. This is at the heart of our Catholic faith. 

How do schools determine financial aid or tuition assistance? 

Many schools, Father Ryan included, use FACTS, a third-party financial institution, to determine a family’s financial need. This process complies with the requirements of TSSAA (Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association). After families submit their financial information to FACTS, which provides the school with a family’s financial picture, the school allocates funds to families based on school resources available (tuition revenue, endowment income, and annual donations). We work closely with families to ensure we are doing our best to provide accessibility to every student who desires a Father Ryan education.    

Questions about tuition or tuition assistance? 

We are incredibly grateful to have an engaged and generous community of alumni, families, and community members who support Father Ryan. Their continued support is essential to fulfilling our mission and vision into the future. Any family concerned about their ability to pay for tuition is strongly encouraged to apply for tuition assistance during enrollment or re-enrollment.  

Questions about our new single tuition model? Please reach out to me directly at davisp@fatherryan.org. 

Questions about tuition assistance?  Please contact our Tuition Assistance Coordinator Kristi Allen at allenk@fatherryan.org or reach out to our CFO, Connie Steinmetz, at steinmetzc@fatherryan.org.  

We keep all families in our prayers as they discern the best high school opportunities for their students.  

Paul Davis ’81 
President, Father Ryan High School