Fast Facts: Back-to-school statistics (372)

Back-to-school statistics

Question:
It's back-to-school time—what do we know about our nation's students and schools?

Response:

Across the country, students are preparing to head back to school for the 2022–23 academic year. Each year, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) compiles back-to-school facts and figures that provide a snapshot of schools and colleges in the United States. Learn more below and listen to our audiogram for highlights from this back-to-school Fast Fact.

Much of the data presented in this Fast Fact were collected in 2020 or 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic, but some of the data were collected before the pandemic began. While all data collected since the spring of 2020 capture impacts of the pandemic, the following resources provide information specifically about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on education:

School Pulse Panel: The School Pulse Panel (SPP) collects much-needed information on issues concerning the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on education. The SPP is one of the nation’s few sources of data focused on school reopening efforts as reported by school district staff and principals in U.S. public schools, as well as topics such as instructional mode(s) offered; enrollment counts of subgroups of students using various instructional modes; learning loss mitigation strategies; special education services; use of technology; and staffing.
U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey: The Household Pulse Survey (HPS) is a study of how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting households across the country from both social and economic perspectives.
2021, Condition of Education 2021: Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the Elementary and Secondary Education System
2022, Condition of Education 2022: Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Fall Plans for Postsecondary Education

To locate the latest findings from NCES, search for recent Publications & Products and peruse the NCES Blog.

PK–12 EDUCATION

Enrollment
Learning Modes
Teachers
Expenditures

POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

Enrollment
Distance Learning
Attainment

PK–12 EDUCATION

Enrollment

How many students attended school in recent years?

In fall 2021, about 49.5 million students were enrolled in public schools in prekindergarten to grade 12, including ungraded students (source). Please note, these data are preliminary and are meant to provide readers with a timely release of basic enrollment estimates. These estimates are subject to change. Of the 49.5 million public school students:

34.0 million attended prekindergarten to grade 8.

1.4 million attended prekindergarten.
3.6 million attended kindergarten.

15.4 million attended grades 9 to 12.

4.2 million attended grade 9, the grade when students typically enter high school.

In 2019–20, about 4.7 million students attended private schools (source). This estimate includes prekindergarten enrollment in schools that offer kindergarten or a higher grade.

How did fall 2021 public school enrollment compare with enrollment in previous years?

Preliminary data for fall 2021 show that some 49.5 million students were enrolled in public schools in prekindergarten through grade 12, which was higher than enrollment in fall 2020 (49.4 million) by a difference of about 78,100 students (source, source). Public school enrollment was higher in all years from 2010 to 2019 than it was in 2020 and 2021, ranging from 49.5 million students in fall 2010¹ to 50.8 million students in fall 2019 (source, source, source).

What were the demographics of public school students in fall 2021?

The 49.5 million public school students enrolled in prekindergarten through grade 12 in fall 2021 included (source):

22.4 million White students
14.1 million Hispanic students
7.4 million Black students
2.7 million Asian students
2.3 million students of Two or more races
0.5 million American Indian/Alaska Native students
0.2 million Pacific Islander students

To learn more about student demographics, explore other NCES Fast Facts, which focus on topics including:

Learning Modes

What percentage of public schools offered different learning modes in spring 2022?

In spring 2022, nearly all schools offered in-person instruction, but some also offered remote and/or hybrid instruction (source). Specifically:

98 percent of public schools offered full-time in-person instruction to any students in June 2022.
33 percent of public schools offered full-time remote instruction to any students in June 2022.
10 percent of public schools offered hybrid instruction to any students in June 2022.
The percentage of public schools offering remote instruction in June (33 percent) was lower than January 2022 (40 percent) and not significantly different from February through May. The percentage of public schools offering full-time in-person instruction and the percentage offering hybrid instruction in June was not significantly different from any other month from January to May 2022.

Visit our Fast Fact on distance learning in elementary and secondary schools to learn more about previous school years’ distance learning in the United States.

Teachers

How many teachers were there in the United States in recent years?

In school year 2020–21, there were 3.0 million teachers in public schools (source). In 2019–20, there were 0.5 million teachers in private schools (source).

Visit our Fast Fact on teacher trends to learn more about the teaching profession in the United States.

Expenditures

How much was spent on PK–12 education in 2019–20?

$13,489: current expenditure per student in public elementary and secondary schools for the 2019–20 school year (source)
$682 billion: total current expenditures in public elementary and secondary schools for the 2019–20 school year (source)

(Note: Current expenditures exclude prekindergarten in Arizona, New York, and Oregon. Current expenditures for California include only expenditures for K–12 and special education preschool programs. Dollar amounts are not adjusted for inflation.)

POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

Enrollment

How many students attended colleges and universities in fall 2020?

About 19.4 million students attended colleges and universities in fall 2020 (source).

11.9 million students attended full time.
7.5 million students attended part time.

16.2 million students attended undergraduate programs.
3.1 million students attended graduate programs.

14.0 million students attended public institutions.
5.4 million students attended private institutions.
0.3 million students attended less-than-2-year institutions.

5.0 million students attended 2-year institutions.
14.1 million students attended 4-year institutions.

What were the characteristics of students who were enrolled in colleges and universities in fall 2020?

11.4 million female students (source)
8.0 million male students

9.5 million White students
3.6 million Hispanic students
2.3 million Black students
1.3 million Asian students
0.7 million students of Two or more races
0.1 million American Indian/Alaska Native students
47,600 Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander students
0.8 million Nonresident students (not identified by race/ethnicity)
0.9 million students for whom race/ethnicity was unknown

How did fall 2020 postsecondary enrollment compare with enrollment in previous years?

Postsecondary enrollment in fall 2020 (19.4 million students) was about 10 percent lower than in fall 2010 (21.6 million students), when enrollment was at its peak (source).

Distance Learning

How many postsecondary students participated in distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic?

In fall 2020, some 73 percent of postsecondary students (14.1 million) were enrolled in any distance education course, compared with 27 percent of students (5.3 million) who were not enrolled in distance education (source).

Of the 14.1 million postsecondary students enrolled in fall 2020 in any distance education course, 39 percent of students (5.4 million) were enrolled in distance education for some but not all of their courses, and 61 percent of students (8.6 million) were enrolled exclusively in distance education courses.

Visit our Fast Fact on distance learning among postsecondary students to learn more about distance learning in the United States.

Attainment

During the 2019–20 academic year, how many degrees did colleges and universities award?

1,018,000 associate's degrees (source)
2,038,000 bachelor's degrees
843,000 master's degrees
190,000 doctor's degrees

¹ Although enrollment rounded to 49.5 million in both years, enrollment was about 31,000 students higher in fall 2010 than in fall 2021.

For more information:

NCES publishes a wide range of data on school enrollment, assessments, graduation rates, technology in education, costs of postsecondary education, fields of study (or majors), educational attainment, and employment outcomes in annual publications.

As you can see, NCES publishes data on many topics that may be of interest to you. Consider exploring the Condition of Education, the Digest of Education Statistics, or the Distance Learning Dataset Training modules to learn more.

Additional resources:

Fast Fact about state-level statistics: Links to selected publications and websites that provide state-by-state information on achievement, attainment, demographics, enrollment, finances, and teachers at the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels.
U.S. Department of Education program and budget information can be found here.
U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey: The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The CPS is the primary source of information on labor force statistics and also contains information on educational attainment.

Other Resources: (Listed by Release Date)