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1 Prekindergarten schools are defined as schools that offer grade prekindergarten only. Elementary schools are defined as schools that offer more of grades K through 4 than higher grades. Middle schools are defined as schools that offer more of grades 5 through 8 than higher or lower grades.
2 Secondary/high schools are defined as schools that offer more of grades 9 through 12 than lower grades.
3 Other schools are defined as schools that offer all other combinations of grades, including K–12 schools. Ungraded schools are defined as schools that offer ungraded education only.
NOTE: Data are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 2019–20; Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 2019–20. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, tables 205.40 and 216.30.
NOTE: Data are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Schools with other racial/ethnic concentrations, such those with enrollment that is more than 50 percent of students who were Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, or of Two or more races, are not included in this figure; thus, the sum of the racial/ethnic concentration categories does not equal 100 percent. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 2009–10 and 2019–20; Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 2009–10 and 2019–20. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, tables 205.40 and 216.30.
NOTE: Data are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 2019–20; Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE), "Public School File," 2019-20; Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 2019–20. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, tables 205.40 and 216.30.
NOTE: Data are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Low-poverty schools are defined as public schools where 25.0 percent or less of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL); mid-low poverty schools are those where 25.1 to 50.0 percent of the students are eligible for FRPL; mid-high poverty schools are those where 50.1 to 75.0 percent of the students are eligible for FRPL; and high-poverty schools are those where more than 75.0 percent of the students are eligible for FRPL. Students with household incomes under 185 percent of the poverty threshold are eligible for FRPL under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). In addition, some groups of children—such as foster children, children participating in the Head Start and Migrant Education programs, and children receiving services under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act—are assumed to be categorically eligible to participate in the NSLP. Data include students whose NSLP eligibility has been determined through direct certification, which is a “process conducted by the states and by local educational agencies (LEAs) to certify eligible children for free meals without the need for household applications” (https://www.fns.usda.gov/direct-certification-national-school-lunch-program-report-congress-state-implementation-progress-1). Also, under the Community Eligibility option, some nonpoor children who attend school in a low-income area may participate if the district decides that it would be more efficient to provide free lunch to all children in the school. For more information, see http://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/national-school-lunch-program-nslp. The category "Missing/school does not participate" is not included in this figure; thus, the sum of the FRPL eligibility categories does not equal 100 percent. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 2019–20; and Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE), “Public School File,” 2019–20. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, table 216.30.
NOTE: To estimate the margin of error, the standard error is scaled based on the desired level of confidence in the estimate. Throughout the Condition of Education, margins of error are produced based on a 95 percent level of confidence. Margin of error is calculated as 1.96*standard error. Data are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 2019–20. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, table 205.40.
1 In this indicator, the United States refers to the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
2 Of these 98,500 public schools, about 3,500 were magnet schools and 690 were virtual schools. Virtual schools are defined as having instruction during which students and teachers are separated by time and/or location and interact via internet-connected computers or other electronic devices. For more information, see Digest of Education Statistics 2021, table 216.10.
3 See indicator Public Charter School Enrollment for additional information about charter schools and charter school legislation.
4 Prekindergarten schools are defined as schools that offer grade prekindergarten only. Elementary schools are defined as schools that offer more of grades K through 4 than higher grades. Middle schools are defined as schools that offer more of grades 5 through 8 than higher or lower grades.
5 Secondary/high schools are defined as schools that offer more of grades 9 through 12 than lower grades.
6 Other schools are defined as schools that offer all other combinations of grades, including K–12 schools. Ungraded schools are defined as schools that offer ungraded education only.
7 Students with household incomes under 185 percent of the poverty threshold are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). In addition, some groups of children—such as foster children, children participating in the Head Start and Migrant Education programs, and children receiving services under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act—are assumed to be categorically eligible to participate in the NSLP. Data include students whose NSLP eligibility has been determined through direct certification, which is a “process conducted by the states and by local educational agencies (LEAs) to certify eligible children for free meals without the need for household applications” (https://www.fns.usda.gov/direct-certification-national-school-lunch-program-report-congress-state-implementation-progress-1). Also, under the Community Eligibility option, some nonpoor children who attend school in a low-income area may participate if the district decides that it would be more efficient to provide free lunch to all children in the school. For more information, see http://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/national-school-lunch-program-nslp.
8 In school year 2019–20, some 15 percent of public charter school students and less than 5 percent of traditional public school students attended schools that did not participate in FRPL or had missing data. No data on the percentage of students eligible for FRPL were collected for private schools in school year 2019–20.