Education

Oklahoma public school revenue surges to nearly $15,000 per student

February 18, 2026

Ray Carter

While critics often claim Oklahoma public schools are badly underfunded, recently released data show that schools enjoyed revenue of nearly $15,000 per student in the most recent school year.

According to financial data reported by schools to the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System (OCAS) and publicly posted in January, Oklahoma public schools had $9,586,994,906 in revenue from all sources (local, state, and federal) during the 2024-2025 school year, aside from cash forward and similar savings.

Since districts reported having an average daily attendance of just under 645,904 during the 2024-2025 school year, that translates into a revenue average of $14,842 per student.

That’s a nearly 53 percent increase from the per-pupil revenue Oklahoma schools reported in the 2017-2018 school year. That year, schools reported having $6,300,400,108 in revenue and an average daily attendance of 647,896, providing an average of $9,724 per student.

Oklahoma’s per-pupil revenue remains well above the average private-school tuition in Oklahoma.

According to Private School Review, the average private-school tuition in Oklahoma is currently $11,166 per year, based on that site’s survey of 76 private schools. Private elementary schools charged an average tuition of $10,929 per year, and private high schools in Oklahoma averaged $12,069 per year. (The survey included 67 private elementary schools and 44 private high schools.)

While that survey does not include all private schools in Oklahoma, it includes most of the larger private schools in the state.