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USDE Report on Private Schools ___________ |
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Private School Statistics at a Glance |
|
| PK-12 Enrollment (2008) | 6,154,000
(11% of all US students) |
| # of Schools (2005-06) | 29,000
(23% of all US schools) |
| Enrollment Source: National Center for
Education Statistics (see table) School Source: National Center for Education Statistics (PSS Survey) |
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||
| 89-90 |
05-06 |
|
| Catholic | 54.5% | 44.4% |
| Nonsectarian | 13.2% | 19.3% |
| Conservative Christian | 10.9% | 16.3% |
| Baptist | 5.8% | 5.5% |
| Lutheran | 4.4% | 3.9% |
| Jewish | 3.2% | 4.1% |
| Episcopal | 1.7% | 2.0% |
| Seventh-day Adventist | 1.6% | 1.1% |
| Calvinist | 0.9% | 0.6% |
| Friends | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Source: National Center for Education Statistics (PSS Survey) | ||
How many private schools are there in the United States? How many students attend them? What's the average tuition? These are just a few of the frequently asked questions we get at CAPE. Here are some answers. (Unless otherwise noted, all data are from the National Center for Education Statistics.)
Schools and Students
There are 28,384 private schools in the United States, serving 6.1 million PK-12 students. Private schools account for over 25 percent of the nation's schools and enroll about 11 percent of all students.
Most private school students (82 percent) attend religiously-affiliated schools, and most private schools are small (82 percent have fewer than 300 students).
Tuition
|
||||
| All
Levels |
Elementary |
Secondary |
K-12
Schools |
|
| All Schools | $4,689 |
$3,267 |
$6,053 | $6,779 |
| Catholic | $3,236 | $2,451 | $4,845 | $6,780 |
| Other Religious | $4,063 |
$3,503 | $6,536 | $4,260 |
| Non-Sectarian | $10,992 |
$7,884 | $14,638 | $12,363 |
| Source: Table 59, Digest of Education Statistics 2005, National Center for Education Statistics. | ||||
Family Income
Where do the children of the wealthy go to school? In December 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau released data on the social and economic characteristics of students enrolled in the nation’s schools in October 2005. It turns out that of the eight million youngsters in grades K-12 who come from families with annual incomes of $100,000 or more, 80 percent (6.4 million) attend public schools and 20 percent (1.6 million) attend private schools.
Click here to visit the Web site of the U.S. Census Bureau for detailed tables for the report School Enrollment—Social and Economic Characteristics of Students: October 2005.
Community Service
In March 2000, the National Center for Education Statistics issued a report entitled Service-Learning and Community Service Among 6th- Through 12th-Grade Students in the United States. According to the report, "Involving America's students in community service activities is one of the objectives established under the third National Education Goal for the year 2000, which seeks to prepare students for responsible citizenship."
The report notes a significant difference in levels of community service between public school students and private school students. "For both 1996 and 1999, students attending church-related private schools (42 percent for both years) and nonchurch-related private schools (31 percent in 1996 and 41 percent in 1999) were more likely to say their schools required and arranged community service than students attending public schools...(14 percent in 1996 and 17 percent in 1999)."
December
1999 - By a margin of nine to one, Americans believe parents should have
the right to choose their child's school, according to a report released
last month by Public Agenda, a research organization based in New York
City. Moreover, if they were given a choice of schools-- along with the
financial wherewithal to exercise it-- a full 55 percent of parents who
currently send their children to public schools would want to send them
to private schools.
The report, titled On Thin Ice, presents findings from a poll taken to assess the public's attitudes on vouchers, charter schools, and related issues. The survey of 1,200 citizens, about one-third of whom were parents of school-age children, was bolstered by insights from five focus groups.
One of the poll's findings is that people who have private schools in their communities believe by wide margins that such schools "generally provide a better education" than public schools and do a better job "teaching academic skills" and "maintaining discipline and order." (For 67 percent of respondents, the term "private schools" refers to "parochial schools or Christian academies," while for 16 percent it refers to "nonreligious private schools.")
Outlook Articles on the Public's Opinion of Private Schools |
The National Center for Education Statistics periodically administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to test the knowledge and skills of the nation's students in grades 4, 8, and 12. Students in private schools consistently score well above the national average. At all three grades a significantly higher percentage of private school students score at or above the Basic, Proficient, and Advanced levels than public school students. Below are the results from the most recent NAEP report cards.
|
||
Private |
Public |
|
| Basic | 88 | 76 |
| Proficient | 44 | 31 |
| Advanced | 6 | 4 |
|
||
| Basic | 82 | 67 |
| Proficient | 43 | 27 |
| Advanced | 10 | 5 |
Related Links:
•CAPE article
•Visit the NCES NAEP 2003 math
Web site.
•Download the NAEP 2003 math
highlights report.
•Use the NAEP
Data Tool to develop customized reports.
|
||
Private |
Public |
|
| Basic | 80 | 62 |
| Proficient | 48 | 30 |
| Advanced | 14 | 7 |
|
||
| Basic | 90 | 72 |
| Proficient | 53 | 30 |
| Advanced | 8 | 3 |
Related Links:
•CAPE article
•Visit the NCES NAEP 2003 reading
Web site.
•Download the NAEP 2003 reading highlights
report.
•Use the NAEP
Data Tool to develop customized reports.
|
||
Private |
Public |
|
| Basic | 94 | 85 |
| Proficient | 39 | 27 |
| Advanced | 3 | 2 |
|
||
| Basic | 95 | 84 |
| Proficient | 47 | 30 |
| Advanced | 4 | 2 |
|
||
| Basic | 89 | 73 |
| Proficient | 40 | 22 |
| Advanced | 4 | 2 |
Related Links:
•CAPE article
•Use the NAEP
Data Tool to develop customized reports.
|
||
Private |
Public |
|
| Basic | 85 | 65 |
| Proficient | 30 | 17 |
| Advanced | 4 | 2 |
|
||
| Basic | 84 | 62 |
| Proficient | 31 | 15 |
| Advanced | 3 | 1 |
|
||
| Basic | 59 | 42 |
| Proficient | 17 | 11 |
| Advanced | 2 | 1 |
|
||
Private |
Public |
|
| Basic | 91 | 72 |
| Proficient | 31 | 20 |
| Advanced | 3 | 2 |
|
||
| Basic | 87 | 72 |
| Proficient | 41 | 28 |
| Advanced | 5 | 3 |
|
||
| Basic | 80 | 71 |
| Proficient | 32 | 24 |
| Advanced | 2 | 1 |
|
||
Private |
Public |
|
| Basic | 84 | 67 |
| Proficient | 35 | 21 |
| Advanced | 3 | 2 |
|
||
| Basic | 89 | 68 |
| Proficient | 40 | 20 |
| Advanced | 4 | 1 |
|
||
| Basic | 80 | 63 |
| Proficient | 38 | 25 |
| Advanced | 7 | 4 |
Related Links:
•Outlook, December 1999: Private
School Students Score Above Average in Civics
•Use the NAEP
Data Tool to develop customized reports.
Basic Level... |
denotes partial mastery of the knowledge and skills fundamental for proficient work at a given grade. |
Proficient Level... |
represents solid academic performance, and competency over challenging subject matter. The proficient level is identified as the standard that all students should reach. |
Advanced Level... |
signifies superior performance at a given grade. |
Outlook Articles on School Safety•November 2003: Government Issues School Crime and Safety Report |
The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), published by the National Center for Education Statistics, provides data on public and private schools. The following table, based on 1999-2000 SASS data (the most recent), indicates the extent to which teachers think various behaviors are serious problems in their schools. (Source: Table 73, Digest of Education Statistics: 2005)
|
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| Public | Private | |
| student disrespect for teachers | 17 | 4 |
| use of alcohol | 7 | 3 |
| drug abuse | 6 | 2 |
| student tardiness | 10 | 3 |
| student absenteeism | 14 | 3 |
| students unprepared to learn | 30 | 5 |
| lack of parent involvement | 24 |
3 |
| student apathy | 21 |
4 |
In December 2006, the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics released Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2006, which provides a comprehensive picture of the exposure of students and teachers to crime in schools. While the report's main focus is public schools, a few of its many charts and tables also extend to private schools. The charts below capture the major findings of the report that involve private schools.
|
||
| Public | Private | |
| having experienced violent victimization at, or on the way to/from, school | 4.3 | 2.6 |
| being threatened with harm at, or on the way to/from, school | 5.1 | 0.9 |
| fearing being attacked or harmed at, or on the way to/from, school | 6.5 | 3.8 |
| being targets of hate-related words at, or on the way to/from, school | 11.5 | 6.9 |
| that street gangs were present at, or on the way to/from, school |
|
|
| that they avoided certain places in school for fear of their own safety |
|
|
In
May 2002, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released
its annual report to Congress on the condition of education. The
report included a special analysis on private schools titled Private
Schools: A Brief Portrait.
Herewith some highlights quoted directly from the private school piece:
The private school analysis also shows:
Related Links:
•Read CAPE's summary of
the report.
•Download Private
Schools: A Brief Portrait directly from the NCES Web site.
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