The School of Education (SOE) at Loyola Marymount University (the Jesuit university of Los Angeles) has released a new study that provides encouraging news about the value of Catholic education. From the official press release:

The study, conducted by SOE’s Center for Catholic Education, followed a group of nearly 600 students who entered Los Angeles Archdiocesan high schools in 2008 with tuition assistance from the Catholic Education Foundation. Researchers found that 100 percent of those students, who came from families living at or below the poverty line, graduated high school and 96 percent were accepted into either two- or four-year colleges.

By comparison, the high school graduation rate in the same year was 79 percent for California public school students and 67 percent for Los Angeles Unified School District students. Comparable college acceptance and attendance data for public and charter schools are not available.

View the full report here.

Matt Emerson's essays have appeared in a number of publications, including America, Commonweal, and the Wall Street Journal. The Catholic Press Association named his September 2012 essay "Help Their Unbelief," published in America, as the "best essay" in the category of national general interest magazine for 2012. He is the author of the book Why Faith? A Journey of Discovery (Paulist Press 2016).Articles:Fruitful Searching (Jan. 5-12, 2015)Preambles for Faith (May 13, 2013)Help Their Unbelief (Sept. 10, 2012)Posts at The Ignatian Educator