In 2021, a total of ******* students were enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools in the state of California - the most out of any state. Florida, New York, Texas, and Pennsylvania rounded out the top five states for private school students in that year.

In the United States, there are far more public school students than private school students. In 2021, about **** million students were enrolled in private schools in the United States. For public school students, this figure stood at close to ** million students.

This layer contains 2010-2014 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data, and contains estimates and margins of error. The layer shows public vs. private school enrollment by sex by grade group. This is shown by tract, county, and state boundaries. There are also additional calculated attributes related to this topic, which can be mapped or used within analysis. Any schools that receives public funding are considered public, including continuation schools and some charter & online schools. This layer is symbolized to show the percentage of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are enrolled in a private school. To see the full list of attributes available in this service, go to the "Data" tab, and choose "Fields" at the top right. Vintage: 2010-2014ACS Table(s): B14002 Data downloaded from: Census Bureau's API for American Community Survey Date of API call: November 28, 2020National Figures: data.census.govThe United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS):About the SurveyGeography & ACSTechnical DocumentationNews & UpdatesThis ready-to-use layer can be used within ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, its configurable apps, dashboards, Story Maps, custom apps, and mobile apps. Data can also be exported for offline workflows. For more information about ACS layers, visit the FAQ. Please cite the Census and ACS when using this data.Data Note from the Census:Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see Accuracy of the Data). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.Data Processing Notes:This layer has associated layers containing the most recent ACS data available by the U.S. Census Bureau. Click here to learn more about ACS data releases and click here for the associated boundaries layer. The reason this data is 5+ years different from the most recent vintage is due to the overlapping of survey years. It is recommended by the U.S. Census Bureau to compare non-overlapping datasets.Boundaries come from the US Census TIGER geodatabases. Boundary vintage (2014) appropriately matches the data vintage as specified by the Census. These are Census boundaries with water and/or coastlines clipped for cartographic purposes. For census tracts, the water cutouts are derived from a subset of the 2010 AWATER (Area Water) boundaries offered by TIGER. For state and county boundaries, the water and coastlines are derived from the coastlines of the 500k TIGER Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles. The original AWATER and ALAND fields are still available as attributes within the data table (units are square meters). The States layer contains 52 records - all US states, Washington D.C., and Puerto RicoCensus tracts with no population that occur in areas of water, such as oceans, are removed from this data service (Census Tracts beginning with 99).Percentages and derived counts, and associated margins of error, are calculated values (that can be identified by the "_calc_" stub in the field name), and abide by the specifications defined by the American Community Survey.Field alias names were created based on the Table Shells file available from the American Community Survey Summary File Documentation page.Negative values (e.g., -4444...) have been set to null, with the exception of -5555... which has been set to zero. These negative values exist in the raw API data to indicate the following situations:The margin of error column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate, or a ratio of medians cannot be calculated because one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution.The median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution, or in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution. A statistical test is not appropriate.The estimate is controlled. A statistical test for sampling variability is not appropriate.The data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small.

The statistic shows the percentage of students enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools in the United States as of fall 2013, by state. As of fall 2013, about **** percent of students in New Jersey were enrolled in private institutions.

Brazil BR: School Enrollment: Secondary: Private: % of Total Secondary data was reported at 14.370 % in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 13.680 % for 2021. Brazil BR: School Enrollment: Secondary: Private: % of Total Secondary data is updated yearly, averaging 13.658 % from Dec 2002 (Median) to 2022, with 20 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 14.981 % in 2012 and a record low of 10.890 % in 2003. Brazil BR: School Enrollment: Secondary: Private: % of Total Secondary data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Brazil – Table BR.World Bank.WDI: Social: Education Statistics. Private enrollment refers to pupils or students enrolled in institutions that are not operated by a public authority but controlled and managed, whether for profit or not, by a private body such as a nongovernmental organization, religious body, special interest group, foundation or business enterprise.;UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). UIS.Stat Bulk Data Download Service. Accessed April 5, 2025. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.;Weighted average;

In the United States, more students tend to be enrolled in public schools than in private schools. In 2022, about 15.8 million students were enrolled in public high schools, compared to 1.36 million who were enrolled in private high schools.

This Private Schools feature dataset is composed of private elementary and secondary education facilities in the United States as defined by the Private School Survey (PSS, https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/), National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, https://nces.ed.gov), US Department of Education for the 2017-2018 school year. This includes all prekindergarten through 12th grade schools as tracked by the PSS. This feature class contains all MEDS/MEDS+ as approved by NGA. Complete field and attribute information is available in the ”Entities and Attributes” metadata section. Geographical coverage is depicted in the thumbnail above and detailed in the Place Keyword section of the metadata. This release includes the addition of 2675 new records, modifications to the spatial location and/or attribution of 19836 records, the removal of 254 records no longer applicable. Additionally, 10,870 records were removed that previously had a STATUS value of 2 (Unknown; not represented in the most recent PSS data) and duplicate records identified by ORNL.

Vietnam VN: School Enrollment: Primary: Private: % of Total Primary data was reported at 0.732 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.645 % for 2015. Vietnam VN: School Enrollment: Primary: Private: % of Total Primary data is updated yearly, averaging 0.346 % from Dec 1981 (Median) to 2016, with 26 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.732 % in 2016 and a record low of 0.000 % in 1988. Vietnam VN: School Enrollment: Primary: Private: % of Total Primary data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Vietnam – Table VN.World Bank.WDI: Education Statistics. Private enrollment refers to pupils or students enrolled in institutions that are not operated by a public authority but controlled and managed, whether for profit or not, by a private body such as a nongovernmental organization, religious body, special interest group, foundation or business enterprise.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Table 1. Number and percentage distribution of private schools, students, and full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers, by selected school characteristics: United States, 2017–18

There were approximately 18.58 million college students in the U.S. in 2022, with around 13.49 million enrolled in public colleges and a further 5.09 million students enrolled in private colleges. The figures are projected to remain relatively constant over the next few years.

What is the most expensive college in the U.S.? The overall number of higher education institutions in the U.S. totals around 4,000, and California is the state with the most. One important factor that students – and their parents – must consider before choosing a college is cost. With annual expenses totaling almost 78,000 U.S. dollars, Harvey Mudd College in California was the most expensive college for the 2021-2022 academic year. There are three major costs of college: tuition, room, and board. The difference in on-campus and off-campus accommodation costs is often negligible, but they can change greatly depending on the college town.

The differences between public and private colleges Public colleges, also called state colleges, are mostly funded by state governments. Private colleges, on the other hand, are not funded by the government but by private donors and endowments. Typically, private institutions are  much more expensive. Public colleges tend to offer different tuition fees for students based on whether they live in-state or out-of-state, while private colleges have the same tuition cost for every student.

France FR: School Enrollment: Secondary: Private: % of Total Secondary data was reported at 25.391 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 25.876 % for 2014. France FR: School Enrollment: Secondary: Private: % of Total Secondary data is updated yearly, averaging 25.391 % from Dec 1999 (Median) to 2015, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 26.169 % in 2012 and a record low of 24.990 % in 1999. France FR: School Enrollment: Secondary: Private: % of Total Secondary data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s France – Table FR.World Bank: Education Statistics. Private enrollment refers to pupils or students enrolled in institutions that are not operated by a public authority but controlled and managed, whether for profit or not, by a private body such as a nongovernmental organization, religious body, special interest group, foundation or business enterprise.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

This dataset contains geocoded location data for private schools, produced by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program. Geocodes for private schools are based on data collected by the NCES Private School Survey (PSS). The PSS is a biennial collection of private elementary and secondary schools that provides data related to enrollment, staffing, type of program, and other basic administrative features. Additional information about the PSS collection and data resources for private schools are available at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/index.asp.

Tunisia TN: School Enrollment: Primary: Private: % of Total Primary data was reported at 5.294 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 4.340 % for 2015. Tunisia TN: School Enrollment: Primary: Private: % of Total Primary data is updated yearly, averaging 0.820 % from Dec 1972 (Median) to 2016, with 41 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 5.294 % in 2016 and a record low of 0.434 % in 1986. Tunisia TN: School Enrollment: Primary: Private: % of Total Primary data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Tunisia – Table TN.World Bank.WDI: Education Statistics. Private enrollment refers to pupils or students enrolled in institutions that are not operated by a public authority but controlled and managed, whether for profit or not, by a private body such as a nongovernmental organization, religious body, special interest group, foundation or business enterprise.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Private: % of Total Secondary data was reported at 8.148 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 7.911 % for 2014. United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Private: % of Total Secondary data is updated yearly, averaging 8.771 % from Dec 1998 (Median) to 2015, with 18 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.653 % in 2000 and a record low of 7.911 % in 2014. United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Private: % of Total Secondary data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Education Statistics. Private enrollment refers to pupils or students enrolled in institutions that are not operated by a public authority but controlled and managed, whether for profit or not, by a private body such as a nongovernmental organization, religious body, special interest group, foundation or business enterprise.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

This layer shows public vs. private school enrollment by sex by grade group. This is shown by tract, county, and state boundaries. This service is updated annually to contain the most currently released American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data, and contains estimates and margins of error. There are also additional calculated attributes related to this topic, which can be mapped or used within analysis. Any schools that receives public funding are considered public, including continuation schools and some charter & online schools. This layer is symbolized to show the percentage of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are enrolled in a private school. To see the full list of attributes available in this service, go to the "Data" tab, and choose "Fields" at the top right. Current Vintage: 2019-2023ACS Table(s): B14002 Data downloaded from: Census Bureau's API for American Community Survey Date of API call: December 12, 2024National Figures: data.census.govThe United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS):About the SurveyGeography & ACSTechnical DocumentationNews & UpdatesThis ready-to-use layer can be used within ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, its configurable apps, dashboards, Story Maps, custom apps, and mobile apps. Data can also be exported for offline workflows. For more information about ACS layers, visit the FAQ. Please cite the Census and ACS when using this data.Data Note from the Census:Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see Accuracy of the Data). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.Data Processing Notes:This layer is updated automatically when the most current vintage of ACS data is released each year, usually in December. The layer always contains the latest available ACS 5-year estimates. It is updated annually within days of the Census Bureau's release schedule. Click here to learn more about ACS data releases.Boundaries come from the US Census TIGER geodatabases, specifically, the National Sub-State Geography Database (named tlgdb_(year)_a_us_substategeo.gdb). Boundaries are updated at the same time as the data updates (annually), and the boundary vintage appropriately matches the data vintage as specified by the Census. These are Census boundaries with water and/or coastlines erased for cartographic and mapping purposes. For census tracts, the water cutouts are derived from a subset of the 2020 Areal Hydrography boundaries offered by TIGER. Water bodies and rivers which are 50 million square meters or larger (mid to large sized water bodies) are erased from the tract level boundaries, as well as additional important features. For state and county boundaries, the water and coastlines are derived from the coastlines of the 2023 500k TIGER Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles. These are erased to more accurately portray the coastlines and Great Lakes. The original AWATER and ALAND fields are still available as attributes within the data table (units are square meters). The States layer contains 52 records - all US states, Washington D.C., and Puerto RicoCensus tracts with no population that occur in areas of water, such as oceans, are removed from this data service (Census Tracts beginning with 99).Percentages and derived counts, and associated margins of error, are calculated values (that can be identified by the "_calc_" stub in the field name), and abide by the specifications defined by the American Community Survey.Field alias names were created based on the Table Shells file available from the American Community Survey Summary File Documentation page.Negative values (e.g., -4444...) have been set to null, with the exception of -5555... which has been set to zero. These negative values exist in the raw API data to indicate the following situations:The margin of error column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate, or a ratio of medians cannot be calculated because one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution.The median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution, or in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution. A statistical test is not appropriate.The estimate is controlled. A statistical test for sampling variability is not appropriate.The data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small.

This dataset provides information about Massachusetts public high school graduates enrolling into institutions of higher education by student group since 2004. It includes the count and percentage of students enrolled in any college or university, as well as a breakdown of enrollment in private vs. public, two-year vs. four-year, and Massachusetts vs. out-of-state institutions. It also includes the percentage of students enrolled in a Massachusetts community college, a Massachusetts state university, or the University of Massachusetts system.

The data provided in the report are based on point-in-time matching of graduates with higher education enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). For more information about working with NSC data, including coverage and FERPA implications, please visit their Working with Our Data page.

Results are not reported for higher education enrollments of fewer than 15. Prior to the 2015 high school graduating class, the data refers to students attending college within 16 months of graduating high school. From 2015 on, the data is also provided by high school graduates attending college by the March following their high school graduation year. The percentages in the report are available by college attendee or high school graduate.

Economically Disadvantaged was used 2015-2021. Low Income was used prior to 2015, and a different version of Low Income has been used since 2022. Please see the DESE Researcher's Guide for more information.

This dataset contains the same data that is also published on our DESE Profiles site: Graduates Attending Higher Ed

In the academic year 2021/2022, the number of students enrolled in private high schools in Mexico amounted to approximately *******, by far the lowest figure in the analyzed period. The enrollment on high schools in Mexico is mandatory. Children attending a high school in the country are usually between 15 and 18 years old.

Table 4. Number and percentage distribution of private schools, by urbanicity type and selected school characteristics: United States, 2017–18

This layer shows public vs. private school enrollment by sex by grade group. This is shown by tract, county, and state centroids. This service is updated annually to contain the most currently released American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data, and contains estimates and margins of error. There are also additional calculated attributes related to this topic, which can be mapped or used within analysis. Any schools that receives public funding are considered public, including continuation schools and some charter & online schools. This layer is symbolized to show the percentage and count of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are enrolled in a private school. To see the full list of attributes available in this service, go to the "Data" tab, and choose "Fields" at the top right. Current Vintage: 2019-2023ACS Table(s): B14002 Data downloaded from: Census Bureau's API for American Community Survey Date of API call: December 12, 2024National Figures: data.census.govThe United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS):About the SurveyGeography & ACSTechnical DocumentationNews & UpdatesThis ready-to-use layer can be used within ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, its configurable apps, dashboards, Story Maps, custom apps, and mobile apps. Data can also be exported for offline workflows. For more information about ACS layers, visit the FAQ. Please cite the Census and ACS when using this data.Data Note from the Census:Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see Accuracy of the Data). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.Data Processing Notes:This layer is updated automatically when the most current vintage of ACS data is released each year, usually in December. The layer always contains the latest available ACS 5-year estimates. It is updated annually within days of the Census Bureau's release schedule. Click here to learn more about ACS data releases.Boundaries come from the US Census TIGER geodatabases, specifically, the National Sub-State Geography Database (named tlgdb_(year)_a_us_substategeo.gdb). Boundaries are updated at the same time as the data updates (annually), and the boundary vintage appropriately matches the data vintage as specified by the Census. These are Census boundaries with water and/or coastlines erased for cartographic and mapping purposes. For census tracts, the water cutouts are derived from a subset of the 2020 Areal Hydrography boundaries offered by TIGER. Water bodies and rivers which are 50 million square meters or larger (mid to large sized water bodies) are erased from the tract level boundaries, as well as additional important features. For state and county boundaries, the water and coastlines are derived from the coastlines of the 2023 500k TIGER Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles. These are erased to more accurately portray the coastlines and Great Lakes. The original AWATER and ALAND fields are still available as attributes within the data table (units are square meters). The States layer contains 52 records - all US states, Washington D.C., and Puerto RicoCensus tracts with no population that occur in areas of water, such as oceans, are removed from this data service (Census Tracts beginning with 99).Percentages and derived counts, and associated margins of error, are calculated values (that can be identified by the "_calc_" stub in the field name), and abide by the specifications defined by the American Community Survey.Field alias names were created based on the Table Shells file available from the American Community Survey Summary File Documentation page.Negative values (e.g., -4444...) have been set to null, with the exception of -5555... which has been set to zero. These negative values exist in the raw API data to indicate the following situations:The margin of error column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate, or a ratio of medians cannot be calculated because one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution.The median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution, or in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution. A statistical test is not appropriate.The estimate is controlled. A statistical test for sampling variability is not appropriate.The data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small.

School enrollment data are used to assess the socioeconomic condition of school-age children. Government agencies also require these data for funding allocations and program planning and implementation.

Data on school enrollment and grade or level attending were derived from answers to Question 10 in the 2015 American Community Survey (ACS). People were classified as enrolled in school if they were attending a public or private school or college at any time during the 3 months prior to the time of interview. The question included instructions to “include only nursery or preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, home school, and schooling which leads to a high school diploma, or a college degree.” Respondents who did not answer the enrollment question were assigned the enrollment status and type of school of a person with the same age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino origin whose residence was in the same or nearby area.

School enrollment is only recorded if the schooling advances a person toward an elementary school certificate, a high school diploma, or a college, university, or professional school (such as law or medicine) degree. Tutoring or correspondence schools are included if credit can be obtained from a public or private school or college. People enrolled in “vocational, technical, or business school” such as post secondary vocational, trade, hospital school, and on job training were not reported as enrolled in school. Field interviewers were instructed to classify individuals who were home schooled as enrolled in private school. The guide sent out with the mail questionnaire includes instructions for how to classify home schoolers.

Enrolled in Public and Private School – Includes people who attended school in the reference period and indicated they were enrolled by marking one of the questionnaire categories for “public school, public college,” or “private school, private college, home school.” The instruction guide defines a public school as “any school or college controlled and supported primarily by a local, county, state, or federal government.” Private schools are defined as schools supported and controlled primarily by religious organizations or other private groups. Home schools are defined as “parental-guided education outside of public or private school for grades 1-12.” Respondents who marked both the “public” and “private” boxes are edited to the first entry, “public.”

Grade in Which Enrolled – From 1999-2007, in the ACS, people reported to be enrolled in “public school, public college” or “private school, private college” were classified by grade or level according to responses to Question 10b, “What grade or level was this person attending?” Seven levels were identified: “nursery school, preschool;” “kindergarten;” elementary “grade 1 to grade 4” or “grade 5 to grade 8;” high school “grade 9 to grade 12;” “college undergraduate years (freshman to senior);” and “graduate or professional school (for example: medical, dental, or law school).”

In 2008, the school enrollment questions had several changes. “Home school” was explicitly included in the “private school, private college” category. For question 10b the categories changed to the following “Nursery school, preschool,” “Kindergarten,” “Grade 1 through grade 12,” “College undergraduate years (freshman to senior),” “Graduate or professional school beyond a bachelor’s degree (for example: MA or PhD program, or medical or law school).” The survey question allowed a write-in for the grades enrolled from 1-12.

Question/Concept History – Since 1999, the ACS enrollment status question (Question 10a) refers to “regular school or college,” while the 1996-1998 ACS did not restrict reporting to “regular” school, and contained an additional category for the “vocational, technical or business school.” The 1996-1998 ACS used the educational attainment question to estimate level of enrollment for those reported to be enrolled in school, and had a single year write-in for the attainment of grades 1 through 11. Grade levels estimated using the attainment question were not consistent with other estimates, so a new question specifically asking grade or level of enrollment was added starting with the 1999 ACS questionnaire.

Limitation of the Data – Beginning in 2006, the population universe in the ACS includes people living in group quarters. Data users may see slight differences in levels of school enrollment in any given geographic area due to the inclusion of this population. The extent of this difference, if any, depends on the type of group quarters present and whether the group quarters population makes up a large proportion of the total population. For example, in areas that are home to several colleges and universities, the percent of individuals 18 to 24 who were enrolled in college or graduate school would increase, as people living in college dormitories are now included in the universe.