EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EDT, SEPTEMBER 8, 1999 (WEDNESDAY) Public Information Office CB99-165 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-1037 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Barbara Tinari Marie Lally 301-457-2730 California and New York Account for One Quarter of Educational Services Receipts and Revenues, Census Bureau Reports The nation's educational services industries reported $20.7 billion in receipts and revenues in 1997, with California at $2.9 billion and New York at $2.2 billion leading all other states, according to individual state reports from the 1997 Economic Census released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. Together, the two states accounted for about one-fourth of the total dollar value of receipts and revenues for both taxable and tax-exempt firms in these industries. Among the findings in the reports: - The nation's 33,784 taxable educational services establishments employed 251,633 people and reported receipts of $15.2 billion. Their 7,153 tax-exempt counterparts employed 72,388 workers and generated revenues totaling $5.5 billion. - Taxable professional and management-development training and educational-support services, two new industries under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), generated receipts of $1.8 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively. Their tax-exempt counterparts reported revenue totals of $588.0 million and $2.0 billion, respectively. Examples of educational support services include educational testing services, student exchange programs, educational counseling and educational curriculum development. - Receipts of taxable technical and trade schools, which includes several new U.S. industry classifications under NAICS, such as flight training and cosmetology and barber schools, totaled $3.7 billion. - The nation's 2,785 taxable computer-training establishments reported receipts of $2.5 billion. Other educational services covered by the economic census include dance schools, automobile driving schools, language schools, business and secretarial schools and exam preparation and tutoring. Elementary and secondary schools and colleges and universities, although part of this sector, were not covered in the 1997 Economic Census. The 52 reports one for each state, the District of Columbia and the United States are part of the 1997 Economic Census, Geographic Area Series, Educational Services series. Released on the Internet, the reports present separate data by industry for firms subject to and exempt from federal income taxes. Summary levels are state, metropolitan area, county and place for taxable firms, as well as state and metropolitan area for tax-exempt firms. The 1997 Economic Census marks the premiere of NAICS, a new business classification system. It replaces the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system begun 60 years ago. "The United States developed the new system jointly with Canada and Mexico, making it much easier to compare data with our North American Free Trade Agreement partners," said Frederick Knickerbocker, the Census Bureau's associate director for economic programs. "It also is much easier to update, so that economic data can keep pace with the nation's changing economy." Data compiled for the Educational Services sector are subject to nonsampling errors. Nonsampling errors can be attributed to many sources: inability to identify all cases in the universe; definition and classification difficulties; differences in the interpretation of questions; errors in recording or coding the data obtained; and other errors of collection, response, coverage, processing and estimation for missing or misreported data. -X-