Fast Facts: Educational institutions (84)

Educational institutions

Question:
How many educational institutions exist in the United States?

Response:

Despite an increase in the number of students, the number of public schools declined in the United States, reflecting a trend toward consolidating small schools during most of the last century. In 1929–30, there were approximately 248,000 public schools, compared with about 98,500 in 2017–18. However, the number of public schools has increased in recent decades: Between 1988–89 and 2006–07, there was an increase of approximately 15,600 schools, up to a total of 98,800. Since 2006–07, the number of public schools has remained relatively stable, varying by fewer than 500 schools from year to year.

Since the early 1970s, public school systems have been shifting away from junior high schools (schools consisting of either grades 7 and 8 or grades 7–9) and moving toward middle schools (a subset of elementary schools beginning with grade 4, 5, or 6 and ending with grade 6, 7, or 8). The number of all public elementary schools (schools beginning with grade 6 or below and ending with grade 8 or below) increased 5 percent between 1970–71 and 2017–18 (from 64,000 to 67,400), and the number of middle schools increased by 546 percent (from 2,100 in 1970–71 to 13,400 in 2017–18). During the same period, the number of junior high schools declined by 68 percent (from 7,800 in 1970–71 to 2,500 in 2017–18). Compared over more recent years, the number of all elementary schools was less than 1 percent higher in 2017–18 than in 2007–08, while the subset of middle schools rose by 3 percent, from 13,000 to 13,400. During the same period, the number of junior high schools declined by 20 percent, from 3,100 to 2,500. The total number of secondary schools decreased 3 percent, from 24,600 in 2007–08 to 23,900 in 2017–18.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). Digest of Education Statistics, 2019 (NCES 2021-009), Chapter 2.

Number of educational institutions, by level and control of institution: Selected years, 1980–81 through 2017–18
Level and control of institution	1980–81	1990–91	1999–2000	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18
Public schools	85,982	84,538	92,012	98,916	98,706	98,817	98,817	98,328	98,454	98,271	98,176	98,277	98,158	98,469
Elementary	59,326	59,015	64,131	67,112	67,148	67,140	67,086	66,689	66,708	67,034	67,073	66,758	66,837	67,408
Secondary	22,619	21,135	22,365	24,643	24,348	24,651	24,544	24,357	24,294	24,067	24,181	24,040	23,814	23,882
Combined	1,743	2,325	4,042	5,899	5,623	5,730	6,137	6,311	6,329	6,189	6,347	6,788	6,783	6,278
Other¹	2,294	2,063	1,474	1,262	1,587	1,296	1,050	971	1,123	981	575	691	724	901
Private schools²	20,764	24,690	32,995	33,740	–	33,366	–	30,861	–	33,619	–	34,576	–	32,461
Postsecondary Title IV institutions	–	–	6,407	6,551	6,632	6,742	7,021	7,234	7,253	7,236	7,151	7,021	6,606	6,502
Degree-granting institutions	3,231	3,559	4,084	4,352	4,409	4,495	4,599	4,706	4,726	4,724	4,627	4,583	4,360	4,313
2-year colleges	1,274	1,418	1,721	1,677	1,690	1,721	1,729	1,738	1,700	1,685	1,616	1,579	1,528	1,485
4-year colleges	1,957	2,141	2,363	2,675	2,719	2,774	2,870	2,968	3,026	3,039	3,011	3,004	2,832	2,828

– Not available.
¹Includes special education, alternative, and other schools not classified by grade span. Because of changes in survey definitions, figures for "other" schools are not comparable from year to year.
²Data for 1980–81 and 1990–91 include schools with first or higher grades. Data for later years include schools with kindergarten or higher grades.
NOTE: Postsecondary data for 1980-81 and 1990-91 are for institutions of higher education, while later data are for Title IV degree-granting and non-degree-granting institutions.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). Digest of Education Statistics, 2019 (NCES 2021-009), Table 105.50.

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