Objective This study examines the effect of negative publicity that arose from public notices of child abuse allegations in the Catholic Church on the enrollment share and number of Catholic schools in the United States. Method Fitting least square regressions using diocese‐level panel data of Catholic school enrollment share and number of Catholic schools. Results I show that the reports of abuse prior to 2002 had no effect on enrollment. Yet, reports since 2002 have had a negative and long‐lasting effect and explain about two‐thirds of the decline in Catholic schooling. These are substantially larger declines than suggested in previous studies. Conclusion I argue that the differing responses to the public notices of child abuse between these two periods are derived from the availability heuristic. This is driven from a fundamental difference in media coverage of the scandal prior to 2002 and afterward. Allegations of child abuse in the Catholic Church received emphatic coverage only after 2002.