LANSING — Due to their nature as independent, self-supporting institutions, private schools do not disclose data about themselves in a standardized format, which sometimes clouds the public's understanding of them. A new report, though, sheds some light on the private school landscape in Michigan.

Rachel White, a doctoral candidate at Michigan State University, gave a presentation on Thursday about her new study of the private education sector. White spoke at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s Issues and Ideas Forum.

While 601 private schools serving 113,000 students operate in Michigan, little research has been done to understand these institutions. When discussing her new study, White said, “The children in the private school system are not an insignificant number. … This data provides a unique look and valuable information about the state of our private schools.”

Despite the popular perception that private schools are pricey institutions, they are, in fact, significantly less expensive than public schools. The average tuition for private school primary students is $4,700 while high schools charge $7,800. In contrast, the state foundation allowance for every public school pupil is about $7,400 while the total spending of the average district is around $13,000 per student each school year.

The lower spending levels do not come from employing an uneducated or unqualified workforce, however. The study found that 98 percent of private school educators hold at least a bachelor's degree, and 82 percent are accredited by the state of Michigan. Additionally, private schools constantly administer student achievement tests — exams which measure students against their peer groups — to ensure that education standards are met. They tend to rely more on private assessments, such as the ACT or SAT examinations, than on Michigan’s official test, the M-STEP.

More importantly, said White, "Private schools are not taking a one-size-fits-all approach to tuition.” Many schools use a sliding scale based on income, and some charge each family a percentage of its income. The study also found that private schools that serve more underprivileged children cost less and provide more financial aid than private schools serving fewer underprivileged students.

“Private schools educate over 100,000 students in Michigan. Thus, it is important to understand the makeup and characteristics of these schools,” White said. “This report provides new information about private schools that should be useful for policymakers, educators and parents.”

The study, "Survey of Michigan's Private Education Sector," is published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which also publishes Michigan Capitol Confidential.

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A video replay of the event:

Michigan public school districts received bad financial news recently when the latest audit for the school employee pension plan showed that unfunded liabilities had increased again, this time by $200 million in 2015.

The statewide pension plan known as the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS) saw its unfunded liabilities increase from $26.5 billion in 2014 to $26.7 billion in 2015. The unfunded liabilities were just $12.0 billion in 2009 but have more than doubled over the past six years.

The state has spent about $1 billion more on pension payments over the past six years, but it hasn't been enough. Past underfunding going back decades and bad investment and other funding assumptions is driving most of the liabilities.

The pension system has become a budget killer for school districts. For example, L’Anse Creuse saw its contribution to MPSERS increase from $14.7 million in 2014 to $19.3 million in 2015 — a 31 percent increase in just one year. School districts around the state collectively take on the rising costs of the unfunded liabilities.

The costs of maintaining the defined benefit system have also increased despite legislative reforms in 2010 and 2012 meant to improve its financial situation.

There was a total of 425,325 people vested in MPSERS in 2015. In that year, it paid out $4.5 billion to 207,651 retirees.

The Michigan (House) and (Senate) are both considering bills that would shift new employees out of the pension system and into a 401(k)-type retirement plan. By definition, 401(k)-type defined contribution plans cannot add unfunded liabilities for future taxpayers.