The Costs of Public and Private Education

The United States on average spends $10,591 to educate a student each year in our K-12 public education system. That number includes funding from federal, state, and local sources.  Utah has the lowest state per-pupil expenditure in the nation, spending $6,612 per pupil, while the District of Columbia spends the most, at $19,698.

Compared to public school expenditures, how much money is being spent by some of the most established school choice programs?

State	Program	Per-Pupil Expenditure	Average Scholarship in Choice Program
Florida	Florida Tax Credit Scholarship	$8,867	$4,011
Louisiana	Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program	$10,625	$4,864.08
Washington, D.C.	D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program	$19,698	$9,000
Wisconsin	Milwaukee Parental Choice Program	$11,183	$6,442

 

School choice advocates have long touted the success of educational achievement and attainment among students who participate in voucher and scholarship tax credit programs.  But school choice programs also make sense fiscally.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG