As the U.S. population increases in size, so does enrollment at all levels of education. At the elementary and secondary levels, growth is due largely to the increase in the size of the school-age population. At the postsecondary level, both population growth and increasing enrollment rates help account for rising enrollments in undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional programs. The cohorts of learners have become more diverse, with students who are members of racial/ethnic minorities or who speak a language other than English at home making up an increasing proportion of the school-age population over time.

• Between 1970 and 2006, children ages 3-4 (typically preschool ages) experienced the largest increase in enrollment rates, from 20 to 56 percent, of any age group. Notable growth was also seen in the enrollment rates for those ages 18-24, the period when young adults are typically enrolled in or transitioning into postsecondary education. For example, the overall enrollment rate increased from 48 to 65 percent for those ages 18-19, from 32 to 48 percent for those ages 20-21, and from 15 to 27 percent for those ages 22-24 (indicator 1).
  


• A greater percentage of children who were about 4 years old in 2005-06 were in a center-based setting as their primary type of early education and care (57 percent) than in other arrangements such as regular parental care (20 percent), home-based relative care (13 percent), home-based nonrelative care (8 percent), or multiple arrangements (2 percent). A smaller percentage of Hispanic children (49 percent) were in a center-based setting as their primary type of early education and care than their White, Black, Asian, or American Indian/Alaska Native peers (60 to 62 percent each). The percentage of children in a center-based setting increased as parents' highest level of education increased (indicator 2).
  


• In 2008, public elementary and secondary school enrollment in the United States is expected to approach about 49.8 million students: 34.9 million in prekindergarten through 8th grade and 14.9 million in grades 9 through 12. Total public elementary and secondary school enrollment is projected to set new enrollment records each year from 2008 through 2017, at which time it is expected to reach an estimated high of 54.1 million students. According to projections, the South is expected to experience the largest increase in enrollment of all regions in the country (indicator 3).
  


• From 1989 to 2001, private school enroll­ment in kindergarten through grade 12 increased from 4.8 to 5.3 million students; by 2005, enrollment had declined to 5.1 million students. Overall, while the number of students enrolled in private schools was higher in 2005 than in 1989, the percentage of all students attending private schools declined from 11 to 9 percent. Along with the changing level of private school enrollment, the distribution of students across different types of private schools changed during this period. Roman Catholic schools continued to have the largest percentage of total private school enrollment, but the distribution of students shifted from Roman Catholic to other religious and nonsectarian private schools at both the elementary and secondary levels (indicator 4).
  


• The percentage of racial/ethnic minority students enrolled in the nation's public schools increased from 22 percent in 1972 to 31 percent in 1986 to 43 percent in 2006. This increase in minority enrollment largely reflects the growth in the percentage of students who were Hispanic. In 2006, Hispanic students represented 20 percent of public school enrollment, up from 6 percent in 1972 and 11 percent in 1986. The distribution of minority students in public schools differed across regions of the country, with minority public school enrollment (55 percent) exceeding White enrollment (45 percent) in the West in 2006 (indicator 5).
  


• The percentage of school-age children (ages 5-17) whose parents had completed a bachelor's degree or higher increased from 19 to 35 percent between 1979 and 2006. During this period, the percentage of parents with a bachelor's degree or higher increased for White children (from 22 to 44 percent), Black children (from 5 to 21 percent), and Hispanic children (from 7 to 15 percent). In 2006, some 67 percent of school-age children were living in two-parent households, representing a decrease since 1979, although this percentage has remained relatively stable since 1995. A larger percentage of school-age children were living in poor households in 2006 than in 1979 (17 vs. 15 percent), but both percentages were lower than the high of 21 percent in 1995 (indicator 6).
  


• Between 1979 and 2006, the number of school-age children (ages 5-17) who spoke a language other than English at home increased from 3.8 to 10.8 million, or from 9 to 20 percent of the population in this age range. Among these children, the percentage who spoke English with difficulty increased from 3 to 6 percent between 1979 and 2000, but this percentage did not change measurably between 2000 and 2006 (remained between 5 and 6 percent). In 2006, about 72 percent of the school-age children who spoke a language other than English at home spoke Spanish (indicator 7).
  


• Since the enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in the mid-1970s, the number and percentage of children and youth ages 3-21 receiving special education services increased nearly every year until 2004-05. In 1976-77, some 3.7 million children and youth in this age group were served under IDEA (5 percent), and by 2006-07, some 6.7 million received services (about 9 percent). The percentage receiving special education services for a specific learning disability was 3 percentage points higher in 2006-07 than in 1976-77 (5 vs. 2 percent). In comparison, the prevalence of speech or language impairments remained fairly constant (indicator 8).
  


• Total undergraduate enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions has generally increased since 1970 and is projected to reach 15.6 million students in 2008. From 1970 to 2006, women's undergraduate enrollment increased over three times as fast as men's, surpassing men's enrollment in 1978. Women are projected to make up 57 percent of undergraduate enrollment through 2017. In addition, over the next 10 years, full-time undergraduate enrollment is expected to continue to exceed part-time enrollment, and enrollment at 4-year institutions is expected to continue to surpass that at 2-year institutions (indicator 9).
  


• In 2006, three-quarters of 4-year college freshmen who had graduated from high school in the previous 12 months attended an in-state college. The percentage of such freshmen who attended an in-state college ranged from 28 percent in the District of Columbia and 40 percent in New Jersey to 89 percent in Louisiana and 90 percent in Utah. Many of the southern states had relatively high percentages of in-state college attendance among college freshmen who had graduated from high school in the previous 12 months: 8 southern states had more than 85 percent of such freshmen attending in-state colleges (indicator 10).
  


• Graduate and first-professional enroll­ments in degree-granting institutions increased between 2000 and 2006. According to projections, increases in enrollment in both types of programs will continue, with graduate enrollment ex­ceeding 2.6 million and first-professional enrollment reaching 418,000 by 2017. Over the past 30 years, female enrollment has increased by a larger percentage than male enrollment in both types of programs. Between 2000 and 2006, total minority enrollment increased by a larger percentage than did White enrollment (44 vs. 15 percent in graduate programs and 20 vs. 10 percent in first-professional programs) (indicator 11).