Do small schools have a higher cost per student?
An often-stated assumption is that small schools have a higher cost per
student. Analysis of actual spending levels compared to
enrollment levels suggest that in practice, small schools are not
necessarily the schools with highest cost per pupil. The graph below shows towns broken into 3 enrollment level groups:
Top 20% -- The top 20% of all towns by number of students. In 2006, this was towns with more than 510 students
Bottom 20% -- The bottom 20% of all towns by number of students. In 2006, this was towns with less than 110 students.
Middle 60% -- The remaining towns (i.e. those with between 110 and 510 students).
For each group, the percentage of downs with above average and below
average spending is given. As can be seen, the small school towns
are far more likely to have below average spending than larger
enrollment towns.
Specifically, 67% of low enrollment towns had below average spending,
versus 56% of middle enrollment towns and 48% of high enrollment towns.
Copyright (C) 2006 by Ken Dufort