The National Center for Education Statistics is run by the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences. The site provides a wealth of information about schools in the U.S. both in the public and private sectors. It is always interesting to look at the state of enrollment in private and public schools as well as a breakdown of the types of schools seeing an increase or decrease in enrollment over the past decade. Although most published data is a year or so old, the trends are still relevant.
Private school enrollment in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 increased from 5.9 million in 1995 to 6.3 million in 2001, and then decreased to 5.9 million in 2007. About 11 percent of all elementary and secondary school students were in private schools in 2007 (see tables A-5-1 and A-5-2).
Whereas religious schools have always held the greatest number of students enrolled in a private school, the trends in enrollment seem to point to an increase in non-sectarian school enrollment with a general educational experience.
In 2007, most private school students were enrolled in schools with a regular program emphasis (85 percent; see table A-5-3). Of the remaining students, 5 percent were enrolled in early childhood schools, 4 percent in Montessori schools, 2 percent in schools with a special program emphasis, 2 percent in special education schools, and 1 percent in alternative schools.
The high population density of the Northeast seems to translate into a high number of private schools and students enrolled in them on average.
In 2007, the percentage of all students who were enrolled in private schools was higher in the Northeast (15 percent) than in the Midwest (11 percent), the South (10 percent), and the West (9 percent) (see table A-5-2). Looking at changes over time, in the Midwest and West, the percentage of students enrolled in private schools was lower in 2007 than in 1995. The percentage of students in the Northeast who were enrolled in private schools in 2007 (15 percent) was similar to the percentage enrolled in 1995 (16 percent). In the South, the percentages of students enrolled in private schools remained around 10 percent from 1995 to 2007.
If you are curious about educational statistics and the facts about public and private schools including demographics and geography, check out the National Center for Education Statistics.
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