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Digest of Education Statistics
2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 236.55. Total and current expenditures per pupil in public elementary and secondary schools: Selected years, 1919-20 through 2016-17
School year Expenditure per pupil in average daily attendance Expenditure per pupil in fall enrollment1
Unadjusted dollars2 Constant 2018-19 dollars3 Unadjusted dollars2 Constant 2018-19 dollars3
Total
expendi-
ture4
Current
expendi-
ture
Total
expendi-
ture4
Current
expendi-
ture
Total
expendi-
ture4
Current
expendi-
ture
Total
expendi-
ture4
Current
expendi-
ture
Annual
percent
change in
current
expenditure
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1919-20 $64   $53 $850   $709 $48   $40 $636   $530 ---
1929-30 108   87 1,605   1,283 90   72 1,329   1,062 ---
1931-32 97   81 1,702   1,424 82   69 1,441   1,206 ---
1933-34 76   67 1,458   1,291 65   57 1,239   1,097 ---
1935-36 88   74 1,621   1,369 74   63 1,371   1,158 ---
                           
1937-38 100   84 1,763   1,483 86   72 1,513   1,273 ---
1939-40 106   88 1,916   1,597 92   76 1,661   1,384 ---
1941-42 110   98 1,787   1,597 94   84 1,530   1,367 ---
1943-44 125   117 1,812   1,700 105   99 1,527   1,433 ---
1945-46 146   136 2,025   1,894 124   116 1,725   1,613 ---
                           
1947-48 205   181 2,227   1,973 179   158 1,945   1,723 ---
1949-50 260   210 2,784   2,249 231   187 2,471   1,996 ---
1951-52 314   246 3,030   2,371 275   215 2,653   2,076 ---
1953-54 351   265 3,305   2,494 312   236 2,939   2,218 ---
1955-56 387   294 3,646   2,772 354   269 3,333   2,534 ---
                           
1957-58 447   341 3,968   3,025 408   311 3,619   2,759 ---
1959-60 471   375 4,060   3,234 440   350 3,793   3,021 ---
1961-62 517   419 4,357   3,530 485   393 4,089   3,313 ---
1963-64 559   460 4,588   3,780 520   428 4,270   3,518 ---
1965-66 654   538 5,190   4,268 607   499 4,818   3,962 ---
                           
1967-68 786   658 5,857   4,903 732   612 5,448   4,560 ---
1969-70 955   816 6,403   5,471 879   751 5,895   5,037 ---
1970-71 1,049   911 6,691   5,809 970   842 6,186   5,370 6.6
1971-72 1,128   990 6,941   6,091 1,034   908 6,366   5,587 4.0
1972-73 1,211   1,077 7,162   6,371 1,117   993 6,607   5,877 5.2
                           
1973-74 1,364   1,207 7,409   6,558 1,244   1,101 6,756   5,979 1.7
1974-75 1,545   1,365 7,554   6,673 1,423   1,257 6,959   6,147 2.8
1975-76 1,697   1,504 7,751   6,867 1,563   1,385 7,137   6,323 2.9
1976-77 1,816   1,638 7,838   7,066 1,674   1,509 7,222   6,512 3.0
1977-78 2,002   1,823 8,097   7,371 1,842   1,677 7,447   6,779 4.1
                           
1978-79 2,210   2,020 8,171   7,470 2,029   1,855 7,504   6,860 1.2
1979-80 2,491   2,272 8,125   7,411 2,290   2,088 7,470   6,813 -0.7
1980-81 2,742 5 2,502 8,018 5 7,314 2,529 5 2,307 7,395 5 6,746 -1.0
1981-82 2,973 5 2,726 8,002 5 7,336 2,754 5 2,525 7,413 5 6,795 0.7
1982-83 3,203 5 2,955 8,266 5 7,626 2,966 5 2,736 7,654 5 7,061 3.9
                           
1983-84 3,471 5 3,173 8,638 5 7,896 3,216 5 2,940 8,002 5 7,315 3.6
1984-85 3,722 5 3,470 8,912 5 8,310 3,456 5 3,222 8,275 5 7,716 5.5
1985-86 4,020 5 3,756 9,356 5 8,741 3,724 5 3,479 8,668 5 8,098 5.0
1986-87 4,308 5 3,970 9,809 5 9,040 3,995 5 3,682 9,096 5 8,383 3.5
1987-88 4,654 5 4,240 10,175 5 9,270 4,310 5 3,927 9,423 5 8,585 2.4
                           
1988-89 5,108   4,645 10,674   9,707 4,737   4,307 9,899   9,001 4.8
1989-90 5,547   4,980 11,064   9,933 5,172   4,643 10,316   9,261 2.9
1990-91 5,882   5,258 11,124   9,944 5,484   4,902 10,371   9,271 0.1
1991-92 6,072   5,421 11,127   9,934 5,626   5,023 10,310   9,205 -0.7
1992-93 6,279   5,584 11,158   9,922 5,802   5,160 10,311   9,169 -0.4
                           
1993-94 6,489   5,767 11,240   9,990 5,994   5,327 10,382   9,227 0.6
1994-95 6,723   5,989 11,320   10,085 6,206   5,529 10,450   9,310 0.9
1995-96 6,959   6,147 11,408   10,076 6,441   5,689 10,559   9,326 0.2
1996-97 7,297   6,393 11,630   10,189 6,761   5,923 10,776   9,441 1.2
1997-98 7,701   6,676 12,058   10,453 7,139   6,189 11,179   9,691 2.7
                           
1998-99 8,115   7,013 12,492   10,795 7,531   6,508 11,592   10,017 3.4
1999-2000 8,589   7,394 12,849   11,061 8,030   6,912 12,013   10,341 3.2
2000-01 9,180   7,904 13,278   11,433 8,572   7,380 12,399   10,675 3.2
2001-02 9,611   8,259 13,661   11,738 8,993   7,727 12,782   10,983 2.9
2002-03 9,950   8,610 13,838   11,974 9,296   8,044 12,929   11,188 1.9
                           
2003-04 10,308   8,900 14,029   12,112 9,625   8,310 13,100   11,310 1.1
2004-05 10,779   9,316 14,241   12,309 10,078   8,711 13,316   11,509 1.8
2005-06 11,338   9,778 14,430   12,445 10,603   9,145 13,495   11,639 1.1
2006-07 12,015   10,336 14,907   12,823 11,252   9,679 13,960   12,009 3.2
2007-08 12,759   10,982 15,264   13,138 11,965   10,298 14,314   12,320 2.6
                           
2008-09 13,033   11,239 15,377   13,260 12,222   10,540 14,421   12,435 0.9
2009-10 13,035   11,427 15,232   13,353 12,133   10,636 14,178   12,429 -0.1
2010-11 12,926   11,433 14,807   13,098 12,054   10,663 13,809   12,215 -1.7
2011-12 12,796   11,362 14,241   12,645 11,991   10,648 13,346   11,850 -3.0
2012-13 12,859   11,509 14,077   12,599 12,033   10,771 13,173   11,791 -0.5
                           
2013-14 13,174   11,819 14,201   12,740 12,335   11,066 13,296   11,928 1.2
2014-15 13,668   12,224 14,626   13,081 12,796   11,445 13,693   12,247 2.7
2015-16 14,171   12,619 15,063   13,413 13,299   11,842 14,136   12,587 2.8
2016-17 14,778   13,094 15,424   13,667 13,834   12,258 14,439   12,794 1.6
---Not available.
1 Data for 1919-20 to 1953-54 are based on school-year enrollment.
2 Unadjusted (or "current") dollars have not been adjusted to compensate for inflation.
3 Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis.
4 Excludes "Other current expenditures," such as community services, private school programs, adult education, and other programs not allocable to expenditures per student at public schools.
5 Estimated.
NOTE: Beginning in 1980-81, state administration expenditures are excluded from both "total" and "current" expenditures. Current expenditures include instruction, support services, food services, and enterprise operations. Total expenditures include current expenditures, capital outlay, and interest on debt. Beginning in 1988-89, extensive changes were made in the data collection procedures. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Biennial Survey of Education in the United States, 1919-20 through 1955-56; Statistics of State School Systems, 1957-58 through 1969-70; Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education, 1970-71 through 1986-87; and Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial Survey," 1987-88 through 2016-17. (This table was prepared August 2019.)

2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest