Back to School Statistics

Question:
What are the new Back to School statistics for 2011?
Response:
America’s schools and colleges will welcome back record numbers of students this fall as population increases and high enrollment rates continue. In particular, more prekindergarten and +kindergarten students are expected to enter U.S. public school systems than ever before.
Elementary and Secondary Education

+Enrollment

In 2009–10, there were about 13,600 public school districts (source) made up of over 98,800 public schools, including about 5,000 charter schools (source) . During this time, there were about 33,300 private schools offering kindergarten or higher grades (source).

In fall 2011, over 49.4 million students will attend public elementary and secondary schools. Of these, 34.9 million will be in prekindergarten through 8th grade and 14.5 million will be in grades 9 through 12 (source) . An additional 6.0 million students are expected to attend private schools (source).

About 1.1 million children are expected to attend public prekindergarten this fall. Enrollment in kindergarten is projected to reach an all-time high of approximately 3.8 million students (source).

This fall, about 4.1 million public school students are expected to enroll in 9th grade—the typical entry grade for many American high schools (source).

Teachers

Public school systems will employ about 3.2 million teachers this fall, resulting in a pupil/teacher ratio of 15.5. This ratio is lower than the 2000 ratio of 16.0. Close to 0.5 million teachers will be working in private schools this fall, resulting in an estimated pupil/teacher ratio of 12.9, which is also lower than the 2000 ratio of 14.5 (source).

+Expenditures

Public elementary and secondary schools will spend about $525 billion for the 2011–12 school year. On average, the current expenditure per student is projected at $10,591 for this school year (source), the same as actual expenditures in 2008–09 (source).

Attainment

About 3.2 million students are expected to graduate from high school in 2011–12, including 2.9 million students from public high schools and 316,000 students from private high schools (source).

The percentage of high school dropouts among 16- through 24-year-olds declined from 11.8 percent in 1998 to 8.1 percent in 2009. Although there have been declines in the Black and Hispanic dropout rates–which have traditionally been among the highest–dropout rates for Blacks and Hispanics remain higher than those for Whites and Asians (source and U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, October 2009).

The percentage of students enrolling in college in the fall immediately following high school completion was 70.1 percent in 2009 (source) . Females enrolled at a higher rate (73.8 percent) than males (66.0 percent) (source).
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