Foreword

The 2014 edition of the Digest of Education Statistics is the 50th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The Digest has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977–78, 1983–84, and 1985–86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest includes a selection of data from many sources, both government and private, and draws especially on the results of surveys and activities carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). To qualify for inclusion in the Digest, material must be nationwide in scope and of current interest and value. The publication contains information on a variety of subjects in the field of education statistics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to data on educational attainment, finances, federal funds for education, libraries, and international comparisons. Supplemental information on population trends, attitudes on education, education characteristics of the labor force, government finances, and economic trends provides background for evaluating education data. Although the Digest contains important information on federal education funding, more detailed information on federal activities is available from federal education program offices.

The Digest contains seven chapters: All Levels of Education, Elementary and Secondary Education, Postsecondary Education, Federal Funds for Education and Related Activities, Outcomes of Education, International Comparisons of Education, and Libraries and Internet Use. Each chapter is divided into a number of topical subsections. Preceding the seven chapters is an Introduction that provides a brief overview of current trends in American education, which supplements the tabular materials in chapters 1 through 7. The Digest concludes with three appendixes. The first appendix, Guide to Sources, provides a brief synopsis of the surveys used to generate the Digest tables; the second, Definitions, is included to help readers understand terms used in the Digest; and the third, Index of Table Numbers, allows readers to quickly locate tables on specific topics.

In addition to providing updated versions of many statistics that have appeared in previous years, this edition incorporates new material on the following topics:

• Number and percentage distribution of children under age 18 and under age 6, by living arrangements, race/ethnicity, and selected racial/ethnic subgroups (table 102.20)
• Number and percentage distribution of spring 2002 high school sophomores, by highest level of education completed through 2012, and socioeconomic status and selected student characteristics while in high school (table 104.91)
• Number and percentage distribution of spring 2002 high school sophomores, by highest level of education completed through 2012, socioeconomic status and educational expectations while in high school, and college enrollment status 2 years after high school (table 104.92)
• Sources of college information for spring 2002 high school sophomores who expected to attend a postsecondary institution, by highest level of education completed through 2012 and socioeconomic status while in high school (table 104.93)
• Primary child care arrangements of 4- and 5-year-old children who are not yet enrolled in kindergarten, by selected child and family characteristics (table 202.35)
• Public school students participating in programs for English language learners, by race/ethnicity (table 204.25)
• Percentage distribution of students enrolled in grades 1 through 12, by public school type and charter status, private school type, and selected household characteristics (table 206.30)
• Percentage of students enrolled in grades 1 through 12 whose parents reported having public school choice, considered other schools, reported current school was their first choice, or moved to their current neighborhood for the public school, by school type and selected child and household characteristics (table 206.40)
• Percentage of students enrolled in grades 3 through 12 whose parents were satisfied or dissatisfied with various aspects of their children's schools, by public and private school type (table 206.50)
• Number and percentage distribution of principals in public and private elementary and secondary schools, by selected characteristics (table 212.08)
• Mobility of public elementary and secondary principals, by selected principal and school characteristics (table 212.20)
• Number and percentage distribution of public and private school principals who left the profession during the past year, by total years of experience as a principal and occupational status (table 212.30)
• Among 18- to 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in high school, percentage who are high school completers (status completion rate), by sex and race/ethnicity (table 219.65)
• Among 18- to 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in high school, number and percentage who are high school completers (status completers), and percentage distribution, by selected characteristics (table 219.67)
• Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics scale score of 12th-graders with various attitudes toward mathematics and percentage reporting these attitudes, by selected student characteristics (table 222.35)
• Percentage of public school students in grades 9-12 who reported having been bullied on school property or electronically bullied during the previous 12 months, by state (table 230.62)
• Number of incidents of students bringing firearms to or possessing firearms at a public school and ratio of incidents per 100,000 students, by state (table 231.65)
• Number and percentage of undergraduate students taking distance education or online classes and degree programs, by selected characteristics (table 311.22)
• Number and percentage of graduate students taking distance education or online classes and degree programs, by selected characteristics (table 311.32)
• On-campus hate crimes at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by level and control of institution, type of crime, and category of bias motivating the crime (table 329.30)
• Percentage of full-time, full-year undergraduates receiving financial aid, and average annual amount received, by source of aid and selected student characteristics (table 331.35)
• Percentage of part-time or part-year undergraduates receiving financial aid, and average annual amount received, by source of aid and selected student characteristics (table 331.37)
• Percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds and 5- to 14-year-olds enrolled in school, by country (table 601.35)

The Digest can be accessed from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest.

Thomas D. Snyder
Supervisor
Annual Reports and Information Staff

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