Catholic schools

Catholic School Tuition Assistance (Diocese of Nashville schools)

Catholic schools in the five counties belong to or operate within the Diocese of Nashville. Need-based aid is handled school by school, and at least one diocesan high school now expects aid applicants to apply for EFS or ESA first.

Last verified: October 2026

How do Catholic schools in Nashville handle tuition assistance?

Tuition assistance at Nashville-area Catholic schools is need-based and is decided by each school, usually through a third-party financial application. Father Ryan High School, for example, uses the Clarity platform and posts 2026-27 tuition of $28,750 with a 15% discount ($4,315) for each additional sibling.

Father Ryan's tuition page states that families who plan to accept its aid must apply for Tennessee's EFS or ESA if they are eligible. Expect other Catholic schools to ask the same question.

Which Catholic schools in the Nashville area take EFS or ESA?

In the merged state records, 16 of the 18 Catholic schools in this directory are on TDOE's 2026-27 EFS registered list, and 11 are also on the ESA list for students zoned to Metro Nashville.

Each Catholic school page shows its approval category, EFS status and ESA status side by side.

When are Catholic high school aid deadlines for 2027-28?

At Father Ryan, current families' first-round tuition-assistance applications are due November 2, 2026 and incoming families' are due January 15, 2027, with awards sent in late January and March. Other schools publish their own calendars.

Because EFS applications for 2026-27 closed at the end of January, the two calendars overlap; build both into the same December-January plan.

Catholic School Tuition Assistance: is / isn't
What Catholic School Tuition Assistance isWhat it isn't
Need-based aid set by each Catholic schoolNot a single diocesan fund we could verify for 2026-27
Often paired with EFS or ESANot guaranteed for families who apply after a school's deadline
Commonly run through a third-party applicationNot a substitute for applying to EFS when a school requires it
Renewed by application each year

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