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Digest of Education Statistics: 2011
Digest of Education Statistics: 2011

NCES 2012-001
May 2012


Table 39. Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by level and grade: Selected years, fall 1980 through fall 2009
Grade Fall 1980 Fall 1985 Fall 1990 Fall 1992 Fall 1993 Fall 1994 Fall 1995 Fall 1996 Fall 1997 Fall 1998 Fall 1999 Fall 2000 Fall 2001 Fall 2002 Fall 2003 Fall 2004 Fall 2005 Fall 2006 Fall 2007 Fall 2008 Fall 2009
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
  Number (in thousands)
All grades 40,877 39,422 41,217 42,823 43,465 44,111 44,840 45,611 46,127 46,539 46,857 47,204 47,672 48,183 48,540 48,795 49,113 49,316 49,293 49,266 49,373
Elementary 27,647 27,034 29,876 31,086 31,502 31,896 32,338 32,762 33,071 33,344 33,486 33,686 33,936 34,114 34,201 34,178 34,204 34,235 34,205 34,286 34,418
Prekindergarten 96 151 303 505 545 603 637 670 695 729 751 776 865 915 950 990 1,036 1,084 1,081 1,180 1,224
Kindergarten 2,593 3,041 3,306 3,313 3,377 3,444 3,536 3,532 3,503 3,443 3,397 3,382 3,379 3,434 3,503 3,544 3,619 3,631 3,609 3,640 3,679
1st grade 2,894 3,239 3,499 3,542 3,529 3,593 3,671 3,770 3,755 3,727 3,684 3,636 3,614 3,594 3,613 3,663 3,691 3,751 3,750 3,708 3,730
2nd grade 2,800 2,941 3,327 3,431 3,429 3,440 3,507 3,600 3,689 3,681 3,656 3,634 3,593 3,565 3,544 3,560 3,606 3,641 3,704 3,699 3,666
3rd grade 2,893 2,895 3,297 3,361 3,437 3,439 3,445 3,524 3,597 3,696 3,691 3,676 3,653 3,623 3,611 3,580 3,586 3,627 3,659 3,708 3,708
4th grade 3,107 2,771 3,248 3,342 3,361 3,426 3,431 3,454 3,507 3,592 3,686 3,711 3,695 3,669 3,619 3,612 3,578 3,586 3,624 3,647 3,701
5th grade 3,130 2,776 3,197 3,325 3,350 3,372 3,438 3,453 3,458 3,520 3,604 3,707 3,727 3,711 3,685 3,635 3,633 3,602 3,600 3,629 3,653
6th grade 3,038 2,789 3,110 3,303 3,356 3,381 3,395 3,494 3,492 3,497 3,564 3,663 3,769 3,788 3,772 3,735 3,670 3,660 3,628 3,614 3,645
7th grade 3,085 2,938 3,067 3,299 3,355 3,404 3,422 3,464 3,520 3,530 3,541 3,629 3,720 3,821 3,841 3,818 3,777 3,716 3,701 3,653 3,642
8th grade 3,086 2,982 2,979 3,129 3,249 3,302 3,356 3,403 3,415 3,480 3,497 3,538 3,616 3,709 3,809 3,825 3,802 3,766 3,709 3,692 3,652
Elementary ungraded 924 511 541 536 513 492 500 399 440 449 415 334 304 285 255 215 205 170 139 117 119
Secondary 13,231 12,388 11,341 11,737 11,963 12,215 12,502 12,849 13,056 13,195 13,371 13,517 13,736 14,069 14,339 14,618 14,909 15,081 15,087 14,980 14,955
9th grade 3,377 3,439 3,169 3,352 3,487 3,604 3,704 3,801 3,819 3,856 3,935 3,963 4,012 4,105 4,190 4,281 4,287 4,260 4,200 4,123 4,081
10th grade 3,368 3,230 2,896 3,027 3,050 3,131 3,237 3,323 3,376 3,382 3,415 3,491 3,528 3,584 3,675 3,750 3,866 3,882 3,863 3,822 3,810
11th grade 3,195 2,866 2,612 2,656 2,751 2,748 2,826 2,930 2,972 3,021 3,034 3,083 3,174 3,229 3,277 3,369 3,454 3,551 3,558 3,548 3,542
12th grade 2,925 2,550 2,381 2,431 2,424 2,488 2,487 2,586 2,673 2,722 2,782 2,803 2,863 2,990 3,046 3,094 3,180 3,277 3,375 3,400 3,433
Secondary ungraded 366 303 284 272 250 244 247 208 216 214 205 177 159 161 150 122 121 110 92 87 90
  Percentage distribution
All grades 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Elementary 67.6 68.6 72.5 72.6 72.5 72.3 72.1 71.8 71.7 71.6 71.5 71.4 71.2 70.8 70.5 70.0 69.6 69.4 69.4 69.6 69.7
Prekindergarten 0.2 0.4 0.7 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.4 2.5
Kindergarten 6.3 7.7 8.0 7.7 7.8 7.8 7.9 7.7 7.6 7.4 7.3 7.2 7.1 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.4 7.5
1st grade 7.1 8.2 8.5 8.3 8.1 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.1 8.0 7.9 7.7 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.5 7.5 7.6 7.6 7.5 7.6
2nd grade 6.8 7.5 8.1 8.0 7.9 7.8 7.8 7.9 8.0 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.5 7.4 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.5 7.4
3rd grade 7.1 7.3 8.0 7.8 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.7 7.8 7.9 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.5 7.4 7.3 7.3 7.4 7.4 7.5 7.5
4th grade 7.6 7.0 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.8 7.7 7.6 7.6 7.7 7.9 7.9 7.8 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.3 7.3 7.4 7.4 7.5
5th grade 7.7 7.0 7.8 7.8 7.7 7.6 7.7 7.6 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.6 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.3 7.4 7.4
6th grade 7.4 7.1 7.5 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.6 7.7 7.6 7.5 7.6 7.8 7.9 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.5 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.4
7th grade 7.5 7.5 7.4 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.5 7.5 7.4 7.4
8th grade 7.5 7.6 7.2 7.3 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.4 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.8 7.7 7.6 7.5 7.5 7.4
Elementary ungraded 2.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.1 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2
Secondary 32.4 31.4 27.5 27.4 27.5 27.7 27.9 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.5 28.6 28.8 29.2 29.5 30.0 30.4 30.6 30.6 30.4 30.3
9th grade 8.3 8.7 7.7 7.8 8.0 8.2 8.3 8.3 8.3 8.3 8.4 8.4 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.8 8.7 8.6 8.5 8.4 8.3
10th grade 8.2 8.2 7.0 7.1 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.4 7.4 7.4 7.6 7.7 7.9 7.9 7.8 7.8 7.7
11th grade 7.8 7.3 6.3 6.2 6.3 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.4 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.7 6.7 6.8 6.9 7.0 7.2 7.2 7.2 7.2
12th grade 7.2 6.5 5.8 5.7 5.6 5.6 5.5 5.7 5.8 5.8 5.9 5.9 6.0 6.2 6.3 6.3 6.5 6.6 6.8 6.9 7.0
Secondary ungraded 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
NOTE: Because of changes in reporting practices and imputation of data for nonrespondents since 1992, prekindergarten enrollment data for 1992 and later years are not comparable to prekindergarten enrollment data for prior years. The total ungraded counts of students were prorated to the elementary and secondary levels based on prior reports. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Statistics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Systems, 1980-81; Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1985-86 through 2009-10. (This table was prepared May 2011.)