Counting the Cost?: EdChoice Makes Private Education Affordable for All

In Luke 14, Jesus uses the phrase “counting the cost” when talking about the price of following him. 

For parents in Tuscarawas County who want their children to attend a school that teaches students how to follow Jesus, too many have counted the cost of private, faith-based education and come up short financially.   

When homeschooling and public schooling are the only options you can afford, giving your child the gift of a spiritually robust education feels like an impossibility.

Fortunately for Ohioans, the state’s Educational Choice Scholarship (EdChoice) Program makes the impossible possible by making private school affordable for everyone, including you!

(If you need to pinch yourself and read that again, go ahead.) 

The EdChoice Expansion and You

How does it work? EdChoice offers students from designated public schools scholarships to attend private schools. It’s that simple. 

If you’re thinking, “That sounds great, but I bet my kids won’t be eligible,” it might be due to certain misconceptions surrounding the program. Perhaps, for example, you think it only awards scholarships to low-income families. 

This is understandable. In 2013, the program based eligibility on a household income of 200% of the federal poverty level or below, which prevented middle-class families from participating. Perhaps that’s you.

In 2023, a program expansion opened scholarships to families earning 450% or less of the federal poverty level—the equivalent of $144,675 for a family of four. Students from families with incomes higher than this percentage are eligible, too, but they receive reduced scholarships based on a sliding scale.

With these scholarships, which amount to $6,166 for students from kindergarten through 8th grade and $8,408 for students in high school, you can afford to give your children private education that nourishes the mind, body, and spirit, too! 

In addition to EdChoice scholarships being available to all now, the expansion continues to be especially beneficial to families with earnings at or below 450% of the federal poverty level. These families would qualify for the entire scholarship amount which covers the total tuition cost.

If, after reading all of this, you are chomping at the bit to apply for scholarships for your children, you’re in luck: Now’s the time to do it. The 2025-2026 school year application window opened on Feb. 1, 2025, and will remain open through June 30, 2026. Visit the program’s website for a step-by-step overview of the application process. 

Tuscarawas Central Catholic Schools

Before you begin, however, we want to extend an invitation to you. 

If you’re looking for affordable, private, faith-based education for your children, we would love to welcome them to Tuscarawas Central Catholic Schools. 

Our commitment to academic excellence, smaller class sizes, and safety creates an academic environment where students are free to flourish and discover their potential. Our commitment to Jesus Christ means we also do everything we can to help students grow in faith so they can live lives of love that honor God and neighbor, too. 

If you’re thinking, “This is great for people who are Catholic, but we’re not,” you might be contending with another misconception—and it’s one we’re happy to straighten out.

You and your children don’t need to be Catholic to enroll at Tuscarawas Central Catholic Schools—and we mean it! We’re delighted to welcome all, regardless of religious affiliation. The values we teach—character, community, justice, and morality, to name a few—transcend belief and benefit everyone.

This may all sound encouraging, but perhaps you’re still counting the cost—wondering how much you’ll pay out of pocket for tuition. After all, we mentioned earlier that only people with earnings at or below 200% of the federal poverty level don’t pay tuition beyond the amount of the scholarship.

That’s where we like to go the extra mile.

We are committed to providing tuition assistance to our families. So much so, in fact, that over 90% of our students who benefit from EdChoice pay nothing out of pocket to attend our schools. That’s how we like it! 

With our help, instead of counting the cost, you can count on your children receiving an education that will change their lives and prepare them for a fulfilling future.  

Contact us today to start the application process. We would love to answer any questions you have about EdChoice or our schools. Now that private school is affordable for everyone in Ohio, we are excited to welcome everyone God brings to our doors—and that includes you and your children!