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Digest of Education Statistics
1997 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 46.Enrollment of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children in preprimaryprograms, by level and control of program and by attendancestatus: October 1965 to October 1996 [In thousands]

____________________________________________________________________________________________    
             |  Total  |    Enrollment by level and control          |    Enrollment by
             | popula- |_____________________________________________|      attendance
Year and age |  tion,  |      |        |Nursery school| Kindergarten |______________________
             | 3 to 5  |Total |Percent |______________|______________|Full- |Part- |Percent
             |years old|      |enrolled|Public|Private|Public|Private| day  | day  |full-day
_____________|_________|______|________|______|_______|______|_______|______|______|________
      1      |    2    |  3   |   4    |  5   |   6   |  7   |   8   |  9   |  10  |   11
_____________|_________|______|________|______|_______|______|_______|______|______|________
Total, 3 to 5|         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
  years old  |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1965 ........|  12,549 |3,407 |   27.1 |  127 |   393 |2,291 |   596 |   ---|   ---|     ---
1970 ........|  10,949 |4,104 |   37.5 |  332 |   762 |2,498 |   511 |  698 |3,405 |   17.0
1975 ........|  10,185 |4,955 |   48.7 |  570 | 1,174 |2,682 |   528 |1,295 |3,659 |   26.1
1980 ........|   9,284 |4,878 |   52.5 |  628 | 1,353 |2,438 |   459 |1,551 |3,327 |   31.8
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1983 ........|  10,254 |5,384 |   52.5 |  809 | 1,538 |2,416 |   623 |1,686 |3,700 |   31.3
1984 ........|  10,612 |5,480 |   51.6 |  742 | 1,593 |2,668 |   476 |1,929 |3,550 |   35.2
1985 ........|  10,733 |5,865 |   54.6 |  846 | 1,631 |2,847 |   541 |2,144 |3,722 |   36.6
1986 ........|  10,866 |5,971 |   55.0 |  829 | 1,715 |2,859 |   567 |2,241 |3,730 |   37.5
1987 ........|  10,872 |5,931 |   54.6 |  819 | 1,736 |2,842 |   534 |2,090 |3,841 |   35.2
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1988 ........|  10,993 |5,978 |   54.4 |  851 | 1,770 |2,875 |   481 |2,044 |3,935 |   34.2
1989 ........|  11,039 |6,026 |   54.6 |  930 | 1,894 |2,704 |   497 |2,238 |3,789 |   37.1
1990 ........|  11,207 |6,659 |   59.4 |1,199 | 2,180 |2,772 |   509 |2,577 |4,082 |   38.7
1991 ........|  11,370 |6,334 |   55.7 |  996 | 1,828 |2,967 |   543 |2,408 |3,926 |   38.0
1992 ........|  11,545 |6,402 |   55.5 |1,073 | 1,783 |2,995 |   550 |2,410 |3,992 |   37.6
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1993 ........|  11,954 |6,581 |   55.1 |1,205 | 1,779 |3,020 |   577 |2,642 |3,939 |   40.1
1994\1\ .....|  12,328 |7,514 |   61.0 |1,848 | 2,314 |2,819 |   534 |3,468 |4,046 |   46.2
1995\1\ .....|  12,518 |7,739 |   61.8 |1,950 | 2,381 |2,800 |   608 |3,689 |4,051 |   47.7
1996\1\ .....|  12,378 |7,580 |   61.2 |1,830 | 2,317 |2,853 |   580 |3,562 |4,019 |   47.0
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
 3 years old |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1965 ........|   4,149 |  203 |    4.9 |   41 |   153 |    5 |     4 |   ---|   ---|     ---
1970 ........|   3,516 |  454 |   12.9 |  110 |   322 |   12 |    10 |  142 |  312 |   31.3
1975 ........|   3,177 |  683 |   21.5 |  179 |   474 |   11 |    18 |  259 |  423 |   37.9
1980 ........|   3,143 |  857 |   27.3 |  221 |   604 |   16 |    17 |  321 |  536 |   37.5
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1983 ........|   3,574 |1,004 |   28.1 |  314 |   631 |   21 |    39 |  357 |  648 |   35.5
1984 ........|   3,609 |1,004 |   27.8 |  295 |   658 |   30 |    22 |  401 |  603 |   39.9
1985 ........|   3,594 |1,035 |   28.8 |  278 |   679 |   52 |    26 |  350 |  685 |   33.8
1986 ........|   3,607 |1,041 |   28.9 |  257 |   737 |   26 |    21 |  399 |  642 |   38.3
1987 ........|   3,569 |1,022 |   28.6 |  264 |   703 |   24 |    31 |  378 |  644 |   37.0
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1988 ........|   3,719 |1,027 |   27.6 |  298 |   678 |   24 |    26 |  369 |  658 |   35.9
1989 ........|   3,713 |1,005 |   27.1 |  277 |   707 |    3 |    18 |  390 |  615 |   38.8
1990 ........|   3,692 |1,205 |   32.6 |  347 |   840 |   11 |     7 |  447 |  758 |   37.1
1991 ........|   3,811 |1,074 |   28.2 |  313 |   702 |   38 |    22 |  388 |  687 |   36.1
1992 ........|   3,905 |1,081 |   27.7 |  336 |   685 |   26 |    34 |  371 |  711 |   34.3
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1993 ........|   4,053 |1,097 |   27.1 |  369 |   687 |   20 |    20 |  426 |  670 |   38.9
1994\1\ .....|   4,081 |1,385 |   33.9 |  469 |   887 |   19 |     9 |  670 |  715 |   48.4
1995\1\ .....|   4,148 |1,489 |   35.9 |  511 |   947 |   15 |    17 |  754 |  736 |   50.6
1996\1\ .....|   4,045 |1,506 |   37.2 |  511 |   947 |   22 |    26 |  657 |  848 |   43.7
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
 4 years old |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1965 ........|   4,238 |  683 |   16.1 |   68 |   213 |  284 |   118 |   ---|   ---|     ---
1970 ........|   3,620 |1,007 |   27.8 |  176 |   395 |  318 |   117 |  230 |  776 |   22.8
1975 ........|   3,499 |1,418 |   40.5 |  332 |   644 |  313 |   129 |  411 |1,008 |   29.0
1980 ........|   3,072 |1,423 |   46.3 |  363 |   701 |  239 |   120 |  467 |  956 |   32.8
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1983 ........|   3,414 |1,619 |   47.4 |  402 |   813 |  231 |   173 |  442 |1,177 |   27.3
1984 ........|   3,579 |1,603 |   44.8 |  376 |   860 |  257 |   110 |  521 |1,082 |   32.5
1985 ........|   3,598 |1,766 |   49.1 |  496 |   859 |  276 |   135 |  643 |1,123 |   36.4
1986 ........|   3,616 |1,772 |   49.0 |  498 |   903 |  257 |   115 |  622 |1,150 |   35.1
1987 ........|   3,597 |1,717 |   47.7 |  431 |   881 |  280 |   125 |  548 |1,169 |   31.9
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1988 ........|   3,598 |1,768 |   49.1 |  481 |   922 |  261 |   104 |  519 |1,249 |   29.4
1989 ........|   3,692 |1,882 |   51.0 |  524 | 1,055 |  202 |   100 |  592 |1,290 |   31.4
1990 ........|   3,723 |2,087 |   56.1 |  695 | 1,144 |  157 |    91 |  716 |1,371 |   34.3
1991 ........|   3,763 |1,994 |   53.0 |  584 |   982 |  287 |   140 |  667 |1,326 |   33.5
1992 ........|   3,807 |1,982 |   52.1 |  602 |   971 |  282 |   126 |  632 |1,350 |   31.9
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1993 ........|   4,044 |2,178 |   53.9 |  719 |   957 |  349 |   154 |  765 |1,413 |   35.1
1994\1\ .....|   4,202 |2,532 |   60.3 |1,020 | 1,232 |  198 |    82 |1,095 |1,438 |   43.2
1995\1\ .....|   4,145 |2,553 |   61.6 |1,054 | 1,208 |  207 |    84 |1,104 |1,449 |   43.3
1996\1\ .....|   4,148 |2,454 |   59.2 |1,029 | 1,168 |  180 |    77 |1,034 |1,420 |   42.1
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
 5 years old |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1965 ........|   4,162 |2,521 |   60.6 |   18 |    27 |2,002 |   474 |   ---|   ---|     ---
1970 ........|   3,814 |2,643 |   69.3 |   45 |    45 |2,168 |   384 |  326 |2,317 |   12.3
1975 ........|   3,509 |2,854 |   81.3 |   59 |    57 |2,358 |   381 |  625 |2,228 |   21.9
1980 ........|   3,069 |2,598 |   84.7 |   44 |    48 |2,183 |   322 |  763 |1,835 |   29.4
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1983 ........|   3,266 |2,761 |   84.5 |   93 |    94 |2,164 |   410 |  887 |1,875 |   32.1
1984 ........|   3,423 |2,872 |   83.9 |   72 |    76 |2,381 |   344 |1,007 |1,865 |   35.1
1985 ........|   3,542 |3,065 |   86.5 |   73 |    94 |2,519 |   379 |1,151 |1,914 |   37.6
1986 ........|   3,643 |3,157 |   86.7 |   75 |    75 |2,576 |   432 |1,220 |1,937 |   38.6
1987 ........|   3,706 |3,192 |   86.1 |  124 |   152 |2,538 |   378 |1,163 |2,028 |   36.4
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1988 ........|   3,676 |3,184 |   86.6 |   72 |   170 |2,590 |   351 |1,155 |2,028 |   36.3
1989 ........|   3,633 |3,139 |   86.4 |  129 |   132 |2,499 |   378 |1,255 |1,883 |   40.0
1990 ........|   3,792 |3,367 |   88.8 |  157 |   196 |2,604 |   411 |1,414 |1,953 |   42.0
1991 ........|   3,796 |3,267 |   86.0 |  100 |   143 |2,642 |   382 |1,354 |1,913 |   41.4
1992 ........|   3,832 |3,339 |   87.1 |  135 |   127 |2,688 |   390 |1,408 |1,931 |   42.2
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
1993 ........|   3,857 |3,306 |   85.7 |  116 |   136 |2,651 |   403 |1,451 |1,856 |   43.9
1994\1\ .....|   4,044 |3,597 |   88.9 |  359 |   194 |2,601 |   442 |1,704 |1,893 |   47.4
1995\1\ .....|   4,224 |3,697 |   87.5 |  385 |   226 |2,578 |   507 |1,830 |1,867 |   49.5
1996\1\ .....|   4,185 |3,621 |   86.5 |  290 |   202 |2,652 |   477 |1,870 |1,750 |   51.7
_____________|_________|______|________|______|_______|______|_______|______|______|________

\1\Data collected using new procedures. May not be comparable with fi

---Data not available.

NOTE.--Data are based on sample surveys of the civilian noninstitutional population. Although cells with fewer than 75,000 children are subject to wide sampling variation, they are included in the table to permit various types of aggregations. Enrollment data for 5-year-olds include only those students in preprimary programs. Because of rounding, details may not add to totals.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Preprimary Enrollment, various years; and U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, unpublished data. (This table was prepared June 1997.)



1997 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest