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Census Calculates School Stats

Students who will be going to school in the fall — some 75.8 million of them — will be judged by 6.8 million teachers for their ability to read, write, and work with numbers. But the numbers associated with schools themselves could make up several lessons. Here is a sampling, as compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census:

Student Enrollment


The number of children and adults enrolled in school throughout the country in October 2005, from nursery school to college: 75.8 million. That amounts to about one-fourth of the U.S. population age 3 and older.

The number of students who were home-schooled in 2003: 1.1 million. That was two percent of all students 5 to 17.

Languages


Number of school-age children (5 to 17) who speak a language other than English at home: 10.5 million, about 1 in 5 in this age group. Most of them (7.5 million) speak Spanish at home.

Lunchtime


Average number of children participating each month in the national school lunch program in 2006: 30.1 million.

After School


Percentage of children 12 to 17 who participated in sports as of
2003: 42%, which was the most popular extracurricular activity. About
one-third of children this age participated in club activities and
29 percent in lessons. Lessons include those taken after school or
on the weekend in subjects like music, dance, language, computers
or religion.

College


The projected number of students enrolled in the nation's colleges and universities this fall: 18 million, up from 12.8 million 20 years ago.

Percentage of all 18- and 19-year-olds enrolled in college in 2005: 49%.

Percentage of all college students who were aged 25 and older in October 2005: 37%. Fifty-six percent of these older students attended school part-time.

Learning and Earning


Percentage of high school students who were employed as of October 2005: 21%.

Percentage of full-time college students who were employed as of October 2005: 50%.

Average annual 2005 earnings of workers 18 and older with an advanced degree: $79,946

This compares with $54,689 a year for those with bachelor's degrees, $29,448 for those with a high school diploma only and $19,915 for those without a high school diploma.

Average starting salary offered to bachelor's degree candidates in petroleum engineering in 2006: $67,069, among the highest of any field of study. At the other end of the spectrum were those majoring in the humanities; they were offered an average of $31,183.

Number of Schools


Number of public elementary and secondary schools in 2003-04: 95,726. The corresponding number of private elementary and secondary schools was 28,384.

Number of institutions of higher learning that granted college degrees in 2005: 4,276.

The number of public charter schools nationwide in 2004-05: 3,294. These schools, granted a charter exempting them from selected state and local rules and regulations, enrolled 887,000 students.

Teachers and Other School Personnel


Number of teachers in the United States in 2006: 6.8 million. Some 2.7 million teach at the elementary and middle-school level. The remainder includes those teaching at the postsecondary, secondary and preschool and kindergarten levels.

Average annual salary of public elementary and secondary school teachers in Connecticut as of the 2003-2004 school year: $57,300, the highest of any state. Teachers in South Dakota received the lowest pay: $33,200. The national average was $46,800. High school principals earned $86,938 annually in 2004-05.

Average hourly wage for the nation's school bus drivers in 2004-05: $14.18 Custodians earned $12.61, while cafeteria workers made $10.33.

Technology


Number of computers available for classroom use in the nation's elementary and secondary schools as of the 2005-2006 school year: 14.2 million. That works out to one computer for every four students.

Percentage of public schools with Internet access, as of fall 2003: 100%

Percentage of children 3 to 17 using a computer and the Internet, respectively, at school, as of fall 2003: 83% and 43%.

Percentage of children 3 to 17 accessing the Internet in fall 2003, whether at home, school or elsewhere, who used it to complete school assignments: 75%. This was the most common reason for children to use the Internet.

Percentage of children 3 to 17 using a computer at home in fall 2003 who used it to complete school assignments: 66%. This was the second most common home computer use for children, behind playing games.

The Rising Cost of College


Average tuition, room and board (for in-state students) at the nation's four-year public colleges and universities for an entire academic year (2005-06):$13,425. That is more than double the corresponding figure in 1990.

Average tuition, room and board at the nation's four-year private colleges and universities for one academic year (2005-06): $36,510. That also is more than double the corresponding 1990 figure.

Average amount of aid received by full-time college students in 2001-02: $6,291 More than half of college students receive some form of financial aid from outside their families to help pay for their education.

Graduation


Projected number of high school diplomas that will be awarded in the 2007-08 school year: 3.3 million.

Number of college degrees expected to be conferred in the 2007-08 school year: 3 million.

Government Spending on Public Education


The per-pupil expenditure on public elementary and secondary education nationally in 2005: $8,701. New York ($14,119) spent the most among states or state equivalents, followed by New Jersey ($13,800), the District of Columbia ($12,979), Vermont ($11,835) and Connecticut ($11,572). Utah ($5,257) spent the least per student, followed by Arizona ($6,261), Idaho ($6,283), Mississippi ($6,575) and Oklahoma ($6,613).

Satisfaction


Among households with a child in the local public school, the percentage who expressed dissatisfaction with the schools in 2003: just seven percent. Fifteen percent of these households said they would prefer a different school for their child.

Editor's note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau's Public Information Office: e-mail: piocensus.gov.

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