Fast Facts: Private School Survey (PSS) (1225)

Private School Survey (PSS)

Question:
What data do you have on private K–12 schools?

Response:

NCES has conducted the Private School Universe Survey (PSS) biennially since 1989–90 to collect data on the number of private schools, teachers, and students in the United States. Completed by administrative personnel in private elementary and secondary schools, PSS collects information on topics like school religious orientation; grades offered; length of school year and day; total K–12 enrollment; number of high school graduates; and number of teachers.

Student Enrollment

The number of students enrolled in K–12 U.S. private schools during the 2021–22 school year was about 4.7 million; there were also about 4.7 million private school students in the 2019–20 academic year, which coincided with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there were changes in enrollment between these two school years by grade level, school level, and religious orientation.

Enrollment in grades K–4 increased between 3 and 9 percent across these grade levels. Enrollment in grade levels 5–12 held steady, except for 11th grade, where there was a 3 percent decrease compared with 2019–20.
Enrollment in combined/other private schools (schools that comprise one or more of grades K–6 and one or more of grades 9–12, or schools that are ungraded) increased by 9 percent.
Enrollment in Catholic schools decreased by 4 percent, while enrollment in Other religious schools (Conservative Christian, other affiliated, and unaffiliated religious schools) increased by 8 percent.

Number of Schools

The number of K–12 private schools decreased by 3 percent, from about 30,490 in 2019–20 to 29,730 in 2021–22. The number of elementary/middle schools decreased by 6 percent, from 18,890 to 17,800. The number of Catholic schools decreased by 5 percent, from 6,450 to 6,120.

Number of Teachers

The overall number of full-time equivalent (FTE) private school teachers held steady between the 2019–20 and 2021–22 school years (482,570 in fall 2021), but there was variation by school level. The number of teachers in elementary/middle schools decreased by 3 percent, from 198,380 to 193,360, and the number of teachers in secondary schools decreased by 5 percent, from 87,620 to 83,370. Meanwhile the number of teachers in combined/other schools increased by 5 percent, from 195,200 to 205,850.

The table below includes private elementary and secondary school enrollments by grade level and school religious orientation.

Digest Table 205.20. Enrollment and percentage distribution of students enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools, by school orientation and grade level: Selected years, fall 2009 through fall 2021

The table below includes the number and percentage distribution of private elementary and secondary students, teachers, and schools, by orientation of school and selected characteristics.

Digest Table 205.40. Number and percentage distribution of private elementary and secondary students, teachers, and schools, by orientation of school and selected characteristics: Fall 2011, fall 2019, and fall 2021

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). New Data Indicate Nation's Private School Enrollment Held Steady Overall From 2019–20 to 2021–22. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved January 24, 2024 and REVISED from https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/12_6_2023.asp.

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