Foreword

The 2013 edition of the Digest of Education Statistics is the 49th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The Digest has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977–78, 1983–84, and 1985–86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest includes a selection of data from many sources, both government and private, and draws especially on the results of surveys and activities carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). To qualify for inclusion in the Digest, material must be nationwide in scope and of current interest and value. The publication contains information on a variety of subjects in the field of education statistics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to data on educational attainment, finances, federal funds for education, libraries, and international comparisons. Supplemental information on population trends, attitudes on education, education characteristics of the labor force, government finances, and economic trends provides background for evaluating education data. Although the Digest contains important information on federal education funding, more detailed information on federal activities is available from federal education program offices.

The Digest contains seven chapters: All Levels of Education, Elementary and Secondary Education, Postsecondary Education, Federal Funds for Education and Related Activities, Outcomes of Education, International Comparisons of Education, and Libraries and Technology. Each chapter is divided into a number of topical subsections. Preceding the seven chapters is an Introduction that provides a brief overview of current trends in American education, which supplements the tabular materials in chapters 1 through 7. The Digest concludes with three appendixes. The first appendix, Guide to Sources, provides a brief synopsis of the surveys used to generate the Digest tables; the second, Definitions, is included to help readers understand terms used in the Digest; and the third, Index of Table Numbers, allows readers to quickly locate tables on specific topics.

In addition to providing updated versions of many statistics that have appeared in previous years, this edition incorporates new material on the following topics:

• Number, percentage, and percentage distribution of total resident population and population under 18 years old, by nativity and race/ethnicity (including selected subgroups) (table 101.30)
• Number of persons 25 to 34 years old, percentage with a bachelor's or higher degree, and percentage distribution, by undergraduate field of study and selected student characteristics (table 104.60)
• Percentage distribution of spring 2002 high school sophomores, by highest level of education completed through 2012 and selected student characteristics (table 104.90)
• First-time kindergartners' primary type of child care arrangement prior to kindergarten entry, by selected child, family, and school characteristics (table 202.65)
• Public school enrollment in prekindergarten through grade 8 and public school enrollment in grades 9 through 12, by region, state, and jurisdiction (tables 203.25 and 203.30)
• Enrollment and percentage distribution of enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by race/ethnicity and level of education (table 203.60)
• Children 3 to 21 years old served under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B, by race/ethnicity and type of disability (table 204.50)
• Number and percentage distribution of teachers in public and private elementary and secondary schools, by selected teacher characteristics (table 209.10)
• Functional age of public schools' main instructional buildings and percentage of schools with permanent and portable (temporary) buildings, by selected school characteristics and condition of permanent and portable buildings (table 217.10)
• Percentage of public schools with plans for major repair, renovation, or replacement of building systems or features in the next 2 years and percentage distribution of schools with such plans, by selected school characteristics, type of system or feature, and main reason for the plans (table 217.15)
• Public high school graduates, by race/ethnicity (including historical and projected data) (table 219.30)
• Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science scale scores of 8th-graders with various attitudes toward science and percentage reporting these attitudes, by selected student characteristics (table 223.25)
• Number and percentage of high school graduates who took foreign language courses in high school and average number of credits earned, by language and number of credits (table 225.70)
• A variety of topics related to crime, environment, and security at elementary and secondary schools:
  • School-associated homicides, suicides, and other violent deaths (table 228.10)
  • Nonfatal criminal victimization of students ages 12–18 (tables 228.20, 228.25, and 228.30)
  • Reports by students in grades 9–12 of being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property (table 228.40), with state-lev el data for public school students (table 228.50);
  • Reports by teachers of being threatened with injury or physically attacked by a student (table 228.70), with state-level data for public school teachers (table 228.80)
  • Incidents of crime recorded by public schools and reported by the schools to the police (tables 229.10, 229.30, and 229.40)
  • Violent crime incidents and serious violent crime incidents recorded and reported to the police by public schools (table 229.50)
  • Selected discipline problems reported by public schools (table 230.10)
  • Reports by students ages 12–18 of gang presence at school (table 230.20)
  • Reports by students ages 12–18 of being the target of hate-related words and seeing hate-related graffiti at school (tables 230.30 and 230.35)
  • Reports by students ages 12–18 of being bullied at school or cyber-bullied anywhere during the school year (tables 230.40, 230.45, 230.50, 230.55, and 230.60)
  • Public school reports of selected types of cyber-bullying problems (table 230.65)
  • Reports by students ages 12–18 of fearing attack or harm at school and of avoiding places, school activities, or classes because of fear of attack or harm (tables 230.70 and 230.80)
  • Teachers' agreement that student misbehavior and student tardiness/class cutting interfered with their teaching and that other teachers and their principal enforced school rules (tables 230.90 and 230.92), with state-level data for public school teachers (table 230.95)
  • Reports by students in grades 9–12 of being in physical fights (tables 231.10 and 231.20), with state-level data for public school students (table 231.30)
  • Reports by students in grades 9–12 of carrying a weapon (tables 231.40 and 231.50), with state-level data for public school students (table 231.60)
  • Reports by students ages 12–18 of having access to a loaded gun without adult permission (table 231.70)
  • Reports by students in grades 9–12 of using alcohol (tables 232.10 and 232.20), with state-level data for public school students (table 232.30)
  • Reports by students in grades 9–12 of using marijuana (tables 232.40 and 232.50), with state-level data for public school students (table 232.60)
  • Reports by students in grades 9–12 that illegal drugs were made available to them on school property (table 232.70), with state-level data for public school students (table 232.80)
  • Public schools taking serious disciplinary actions in response to specific offenses (table 233.10)
  • Public schools with security staff present and with security staff routinely carrying a firearm (table 233.70)
  • Reports by students ages 12–18 of various security measures at school (table 233.80)
• Number and percentage distribution of students enrolled in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by distance education participation, level of enrollment, and control and level of institution (table 311.15)
• Number and percentage of undergraduate students taking night, weekend, or online classes, by selected characteristics (table 311.20)
• Number and percentage of graduate students taking night, weekend, or online classes, by selected characteristics (table 311.30)
• Selected statistics for degree-granting postsecondary institutions that primarily offer online programs, by control of institution and selected characteristics (table 311.33)
• On-campus crimes, arrests, and referrals for disciplinary action at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by location of incident, control and level of institution, and type of incident (table 329.10)
• On-campus crimes, arrests, and referrals for disciplinary action per 10,000 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by whether institution has residence halls, control and level of institution, and type of incident (table 329.20)
• Percentage of undergraduate students ages 18 to 24 in their 4th (senior) year or above who had ever received federal loans, nonfederal loans, or Parent Loans for Undergraduates (PLUS), and average cumulative amount borrowed, by selected student characteristics and control and level of institution (table 331.95)
• Among 25- to 34-year-olds with a bachelor's or higher degree, percentage who were employed in any occupation, by undergraduate field of study, sex, race/ethnicity, nativity, and citizenship status (table 505.20)
• Among employed 25- to 34-year-olds with a bachelor's degree in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field, percentage with STEM and non-STEM occupations, by sex, race/ethnicity, nativity, and citizenship status (table 505.30)

The Digest can be accessed from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest.

Thomas D. Snyder
Supervisor
Annual Reports and Information Staff

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