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Digest of Education Statistics
1999 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 preprimary programs, by leveland control of program and by attendance status: October 1965 to October 1998 [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
1997\1\ .....|  12,121 |7,860 |   64.9 |2,207 | 2,231 |2,847 |   575 |3,922 |3,939 |   49.9
1998\1\ .....|  12,078 |7,788 |   64.5 |2,213 | 2,299 |2,674 |   602 |3,959 |3,829 |   50.8
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
 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
1997\1\ .....|   3,947 |1,528 |   38.7 |  643 |   843 |   25 |    18 |  754 |  774 |   49.4
1998\1\......|   3,989 |1,498 |   37.6 |  587 |   869 |   27 |    14 |  735 |  763 |   49.1
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
 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
1997\1\ .....|   4,033 |2,665 |   66.1 |1,197 | 1,169 |  207 |    92 |1,161 |1,505 |   43.5
1998\1\......|   4,002 |2,666 |   66.6 |1,183 | 1,219 |  210 |    53 |1,179 |1,487 |   44.2
             |         |      |        |      |       |      |       |      |      |
 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
1997\1\ .....|   4,141 |3,667 |   88.5 |  368 |   219 |2,616 |   465 |2,007 |1,660 |   54.7
1998\1\ .....|   4,087 |3,624 |   88.7 |  442 |   211 |2,437 |   535 |2,044 |1,579 |   56.4
_____________|_________|______|________|______|_______|______|_______|______|______|________

\1\Data collected using new procedures. May not be comparable with figures prior to 1994.
---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 August 1999.)


1999 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest