THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND DR. JAMES S. COLEMAN, SOCIOLOGIST AND AUTHOR OF MANY LANDMARK STUDIES ON AMERICAN EDUCATION, HAVE UNEARTHED SOME IMPRESSIVE STATISTICS:

• In national and science achievement tests at both elementary and secondary levels, Catholic school students outscored their public school students;
• In all subjects, Catholic school students show greater academic achievement gains between tenth and twelfth graders than do public school students;
• Catholic school students from disadvantaged families show no corresponding academic deficiencies in math or verbal achievement, while similar students in public and other private schools show substantial academic deficiencies;
• In Catholic schools, minority students from underprivileged backgrounds outperform their public school counterparts;
• 3% of Catholic high school students drop out of school compared to 14% of public school students;
• Catholic school graduates of every ethnic background choose a pre-professional college curriculum twice as often as public school graduates;
• 83% of Catholic high school graduates go on to college as compared to 52% of public high school graduates;
• The graduation rate for all Catholic school students surpasses public school students by an average of 4.5% in math, 4.8% in science, and 12.5% in reading in the three grade levels of the National Assessment of Educational Progress test of the federal government;
• Catholic high school sophomores are four times less likely to drop out than their public school counterparts. Once graduated, they are much more likely – by 40% – to go on to college.

From NCEA web site