Internet Access in Schools

Overall, 65 percent of public schools had Internet access during fall 1996 (Table 1). This number represents all schools that had any access to the Internet.

School access to the Internet has increased by 15 percentage points for the second consecutive year. In 1994, when data were first collected, 35 percent of public schools were connected to the Internet (Table 1). This increased to 50 percent by 1995 and rose again in 1996 to the current level. Differences in Internet access in fall 1996 were found among schools by instructional level, size of enrollment, metropolitan status, and poverty level of students' families. While 61 percent of public elementary schools had Internet access, about three-quarters (77 percent) of public secondary schools were connected to the Internet. Schools with enrollments of 1,000 or more students were more likely to be connected to the Internet than their smaller counterparts. Eighty percent of large schools were connected to the Internet, compared with 66 percent of schools enrolling 300 to 999 students and 57 percent of those with fewer than 300 students. Urban fringe (or suburban) schools reported higher rates of Internet access than those in towns or rural areas. Seventy-five percent of public schools in urban fringe areas had Internet access compared with 61 percent in towns and 60 percent of schools located in rural areas.

School access to the Internet was examined by the level of poverty in the school as defined by the proportion of students eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program. Schools with higher proportions of students eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program were less likely to have Internet access than those with smaller percentages of students eligible for this program. About half (53 percent) of schools in which 71 percent or more students were eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program had Internet access and 58 percent of those schools with 31 to 70 percent of eligible students had Internet access. In comparison, about three-fourths (72 to 78 percent) of schools with smaller proportions of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch had Internet access.

Schools connect to the Internet in a variety of ways. Although modems remained the most common means of connection, use of higher speed connections had increased since 1994. In fall 1996, 74 percent of schools with Internet were connected by modem (Figure 1). Twenty percent used higher speed SLIP or PPP connections, 12 percent had a T1 connection, 11 percent had a 56Kb connection, and 4 percent connected to the Internet with an ISDN. This represents a change from 1994 when data were first collected. In 1994, 97 percent of schools with Internet connected by modem; 3 to 4 percent used each type of high speed connection such as a SLIP/ PPP (3 percent), T1 (3 percent), or 56Kb (4 percent).

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