Question:
Are there any Back to School Statistics?

Response:
The Nation's schools and colleges will welcome back record numbers of students this fall as population increases and high enrollment rates boost enrollments.

Elementary and Secondary Education

In fall 2008, a record 49.8 million students will attend public elementary and secondary schools. Of these, 34.9 million will be in prekindergarten through 8th grade and 14.9 million in grades 9 through 12. An additional 6.2 million students are expected to attend private schools this fall.

Public school systems will employ about 3.3 million teachers this fall, resulting in a pupil/teacher ratio of 15.3, which is lower than in 2000, when the ratio was 16.0. An additional 0.5 million teachers will be working in private schools this fall, where the pupil/teacher ratio is estimated at 13.0.

There are about 14,200 public school districts containing about 97,000 public schools, including about 4,000 charter schools. There were about 35,000 private schools offering kindergarten or higher grades.

Current expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools will be about $519 billion for the 2008-09 school year. The national average current expenditure per student is around $10,418, up from $9,154 in 2005-06.

Colleges and University Education

About 18.3 million students will attend the nation’s 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities, an increase of about 3.0 million since fall 2000. College enrollment is expected to continue increasing, reaching a projected 20.4 million in fall 2016.

Females are expected to comprise the majority of college students in fall 2008, numbering about 10.6 million compared to 7.7 million males. Although the majority of students attend full-time (an estimated 11.5 million for fall 2008), 6.8 million will attend part-time. About 7.2 million students are expected to attend public 4-year colleges, 6.5 million public 2-year colleges, 4.3 million private 4-year colleges, and 0.3 million private 2-year colleges.

Increasing numbers and percentages of minority students are attending college. Between 2000 and 2005, the percentage of Black college students rose from 11.3 to 12.7 percent, and the percent of Hispanic students rose from 9.5 to 10.8 percent.

The record college enrollments have been driven by both increases in the traditional college age population and rising enrollment rates. Between 2000 and 2006, the 18- to 24-year-old population rose from 27.3 million to 29.5 million and the percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college also was higher in 2006 (37.3) compared to 2000 (35.5 percent).

For the 2006-07 academic year, annual prices for undergraduate tuition, room, and board were estimated to be $11,034 at public institutions and $28,384 at private institutions.

During the 2008-09 school year, 714,000 associate's degrees; 1,585,000 bachelor's degrees; 647,000 master's degrees; 91,000 first-professional degrees; and 55,800 doctor's degrees are expected to be awarded.

More information on education from the National Center for Education Statistics.