Participation in Education

Elementary/Secondary Enrollment

Table A-32-1. Number and percentage distribution of students in grades 1–12 according to type of school attended, by student and household characteristics: Selected years, 1993 through 2007

	Public, assigned					Public, chosen					Private, church-related								Private, not church-related
Characteristic	1993	1996	1999	2003	2007	1993	1996	1999	2003	2007	1993	1996		1999	2003		2007		1993		1996		1999		2003		2007
Number of students
(in thousands)	33,900	34,600	35,800	35,300	34,700	4,700	6,200	6,800	7,400	7,400	3,200	3,700		3,400	4,000		4,100		700		1,000		1,100		1,100		1,200
Total (percent)	79.9	76.0	75.9	73.9	73.2	11.0	13.7	14.5	15.4	15.5	7.5	8.0		7.3	8.4		8.7		1.6		2.3		2.3		2.4		2.6

Grade level
1–5	78.6	74.1	73.7	71.6	71.4	11.6	14.8	15.3	16.6	17.0	8.3	8.9		8.6	9.7		8.7		1.5		2.2		2.5		2.1		2.8
6–8	81.3	79.4	78.6	75.0	77.0	9.9	11.2	11.7	14.5	11.9	7.4	7.4		7.5	7.9		8.6		1.5	!	2.0		2.2		2.5		2.5
9–12	80.6	75.9	76.9	76.0	72.6	11.2	14.1	15.6	14.4	16.4	6.5	7.3		5.3	6.9		8.6		1.8		2.7		2.3		2.6		2.3

Race/ethnicity
White	81.0	77.1	77.1	74.7	73.6	8.6	11.1	11.5	12.9	12.5	8.6	9.2		8.7	9.7		10.8		1.8		2.7		2.7		2.7		3.1
Black	77.2	72.9	71.5	68.1	68.9	18.6	21.5	22.6	24.0	23.7	3.4	4.2		4.4	5.7		5.5		0.8		1.4		1.6		2.2		1.8
Hispanic	79.2	76.4	77.0	77.9	75.8	13.7	16.1	18.0	15.1	17.4	6.4	6.3		3.9	6.2		5.6		0.7		1.3		1.1		0.8		1.2
Other¹	73.0	69.3	72.6	70.1	72.7	14.9	19.0	17.4	19.3	17.4	9.0	9.5		6.9	7.2		6.4		3.1		2.2		3.1		3.4		3.5

Family type
Two-parent household	80.1	76.3	76.8	73.6	72.7	9.3	11.7	12.2	14.1	14.4	8.8	9.5		8.4	9.7		10.0		1.8		2.4		2.5		2.6		2.9
One-parent household	78.9	74.6	74.4	74.5	74.9	15.2	18.4	18.4	18.3	17.7	4.8	5.0		5.2	5.3		5.4		1.1		1.9		2.1		1.9		2.0
Nonparent guardians	83.7	80.2	72.9	74.7	72.8	13.5	14.6	21.7	20.0	22.7	2.1	2.3	!	4.1	3.7	!	3.9		0.7	!	2.9	!	1.2	!	1.5	!	0.6	!

Poverty status
Poor	82.6	77.8	76.5	78.2	77.6	13.9	17.6	19.3	18.4	19.1	3.0	3.0		2.5	2.6		2.5		0.5	!	1.5		1.6		0.9	!	0.8	!
Near-poor	82.5	78.6	78.4	77.0	78.1	11.1	14.0	15.7	16.7	16.5	5.8	6.2		4.9	4.6		4.8		0.6		1.2		1.0		1.7		0.6	!
Nonpoor	77.2	74.0	74.6	71.4	70.4	9.7	11.7	11.9	14.0	14.2	10.6	11.2		10.3	11.6		11.7		2.6		3.2		3.2		3.1		3.7

Parents’ education
Less than high school	83.6	78.8	79.6	77.6	85.4	13.7	17.4	17.8	19.7	12.4	2.4	2.0		1.7	2.1	!	1.5	!	0.2	!	1.8	!	0.9	!	0.6	!	0.6	!
High school diploma or	83.5	82.1	80.3	79.3	79.8	11.4	12.3	14.3	15.8	15.4	4.6	5.0		4.1	3.7		3.5		0.5	!	0.7		1.3		1.2		1.3
equivalent
Some college, including	79.8	76.4	77.4	75.8	75.4	11.1	14.7	15.2	15.8	16.3	7.7	7.1		6.0	6.7		7.3		1.4		1.8		1.4		1.7		1.0
vocational/technical
Bachelor’s degree	75.8	70.7	71.5	69.0	70.7	9.2	13.1	13.1	13.7	15.3	12.5	13.0		12.5	14.5		11.6		2.6		3.3		2.9		2.8		2.4
Graduate/professional degree	72.7	66.1	68.1	66.2	62.2	9.8	12.6	13.1	14.1	15.8	13.1	15.3		12.8	14.1		15.1		4.4		6.0		6.1		5.6		6.8

Region
Northeast	77.8	74.3	74.1	73.5	72.3	9.3	12.9	13.7	11.6	13.3	10.5	9.2		8.7	11.0		10.9		2.4		3.6		3.6		3.9		3.4
South	82.0	78.7	77.6	75.9	75.2	10.9	12.5	13.5	15.8	14.0	5.4	6.4		6.4	6.1		8.5		1.7		2.4		2.5		2.1		2.3
Midwest	79.6	75.4	76.0	71.6	73.6	10.4	12.4	13.5	14.4	15.0	9.2	10.9		9.3	12.1		9.9		0.8		1.3		1.2		1.9		1.5	!
West	78.7	74.0	74.8	73.6	70.6	13.4	17.7	18.1	18.6	20.1	6.5	6.3		4.9	5.8		6.1		1.5		2.0		2.3		2.0		3.3

Community type
Urban, inside of	75.1	71.0	71.2	70.6	—	13.5	16.3	16.6	16.4	—	9.5	10.0		9.2	10.1		—		1.9		2.7		3.0		2.9		—
urbanized areas																	—										—
Urban, outside of	86.6	81.2	81.6	78.8	—	7.7	10.7	12.0	13.5	—	4.9	6.9		5.0	6.2		—		0.8		1.1		1.4		1.5		—
urbanized areas																	—										—
Rural	87.7	84.9	84.6	82.0	—	6.8	9.2	10.6	13.1	—	4.3	3.9		3.7	3.8		—		1.2		1.9		1.1		1.1		—

Locale
City	—	—	—	—	62.8	—	—	—	—	23.2	—	—		—	—		9.6		—		—		—		—		4.4
Suburb	—	—	—	—	75.2	—	—	—	—	11.9	—	—		—	—		10.6		—		—		—		—		2.3
Town	—	—	—	—	81.0	—	—	—	—	12.1	—	—		—	—		5.5		—		—		—		—		1.4
Rural	—	—	—	—	81.6	—	—	—	—	12.2	—	—		—	—		5.3		—		—		—		—		0.9	!
— Not available.
! Interpret data with caution (estimates are unstable).
¹Includes Asians/Pacific Islanders, Native Hawaiians, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and persons of more than one race.
NOTE: Public school choice programs allow students to enroll in another public school or district outside their attendance area. These programs can include within-district or out-of-district schools. These estimates are based on parents’ responses; not all parents may have applied this definition of school choice in their response. Data for 1993 through 2003 include homeschooled students enrolled in public or private schools for 9 or more hours per week. Data for 2007 exclude all homeschoolers. Data for all years exclude students in classrooms or schools classified as “ungraded.” Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. For more information on commonly used variables, see supplemental note 1. For more information about the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), see supplemental note 3.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Readiness Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), 1993, School Safety and Discipline Survey of the NHES, 1993, Parent and Family Involvement/Civic Involvement Survey of the NHES, 1996, Parent Survey of the NHES, 1999, and Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the NHES, 2003 and 2007.

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