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Office of Non-Public Education (ONPE)
Liaison to the nonpublic school community for the U.S. Department of Education

Statistics About Nonpublic Education in the United States

Private Schools

Schools and Enrollment

Private School Universe Survey 2013-14

In the fall of 2013, there were an estimated:

  • 33,619 private elementary and secondary schools with,
  • 4,576,410 students, and
  • 441,496 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers.

Note: These estimates include schools for which kindergarten is the highest grade.

Private Schools in the U.S. Number and Percentage by NCES Typology 2013-14, Table 1 by NCES Typology 2013-14
Catholic Parochial Diocesan Private
6,695 2,715 2,997 1,007
(19.9%) (8.1%) (8.9%) (3.0%)

Other religious Conservative Christian Affiliated Unaffiliated
16,387 4,255 3,035 9,098
(48.7%) (12.7%) (9%) (27.1%)

Nonsectarian Regular Special Emphasis Special Education
10,537 5,229 3,701 1,607
(31.3%) (15.6%) (11.0%) (4.8%)

Private Schools by School Level 2013-14, Table 1
Elementary Secondary Combined
22,509 2,701 8,409
(67.0%) (8.0%) (25.0%)

Private School Students in the U.S. Number and Percentage by NCES Typology 2013-14 Table 5
Catholic Parochial Diocesan Private
1,891,387 663,992 62,926 364,469
(41.3%) (14.5%) (18.9%) (8.0%)

Other religious Conservative Christian Other affiliated Unaffiliated
1,711,348 613,713 489,209 608,426
(37.4%) (13.4%) (10.7%) (13.3%)

Nonsectarian Regular Special emphasis Special education
973,675 667,208 207,188 99,280
(21.3%) (14.6%) (4.5%) (2.2%)

Private Schools by School Level 2013-14, Table 1
Elementary Secondary Combined
2,154,815 737,863 1,683,732
(47.1%) (16.1%) (36.8%)

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Tuition

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, Advance Release of Selected 2013 Digest Tables

For the 2011-2012 school year, private school full tuition averages were:

  • $7,770 for elementary schools;
  • $13,030 for secondary schools; and
  • $13,640 for combined schools.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Private School Data File," 1999-2000, 2003-04, 2007-08 and 2011-12. (This table was prepared in June 2013.)

Homeschooling

Homeschooling in the United States: 2012, From the National Household Education Surveys (NHES) Program of 2012

In 2012, there were an estimated 1.8 million homeschooled students in the United States, which is an increase from 850,000 in 1999, when estimates were first reported. In addition, the estimated percentage of the school-age population that was homeschooled increased from 1.7 percent in 1999 to 3.4 percent in 2012.

Parents give various reasons for the decision to educate their children at home.

Parents' Reasons for Homeschooling Their Children (in percentages), by reasons parents gave as important and most important
Reason 2011-2012
A desire to provide religious instruction 64
A desire to provide moral instruction 77
A concern about environment of other schools 91
A dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools 74
A desire to provide a nontraditional approach to child's education 44
Child has other special needs 16
Child has a physical or mental health problem 15
Other reasons 37
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Other Resources

Institute for Education Sciences (IES)

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

NAEP Private School Video

Private School Search

NAEP Video

List of Sources


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Last Modified: 12/02/2016