• Introduction
• Selected Results
• References

This report on the private school universe presents data on schools with grades kindergarten through 12 by school size, school level, religious orientation, geographic region, community type, and program emphasis. The numbers of students and teachers are reported in the same categories. The number of students is also reported by race/ethnicity, gender, and grade level.

Tables in the complete report present data by three classification schemes: private school typology, religious orientation, and association membership. The private school nine-category typology is based on methodological work completed at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Each of the primary divisions (Catholic, other religious, and nonsectarian) is subdivided into three additional categories: Catholic into parochial (parish), diocesan, and private order; other religious into conservative Christian, affiliated with a national denomination or other religious school association, and unaffiliated; and nonsectarian into regular program, special emphasis, and special education.

The Private School Survey (PSS), conducted every 2 years by the U.S. Bureau of the Census for NCES, is designed to collect data from all private schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The PSS conducted in 1997-98 is the data source for this report. The counts presented here are estimates derived from an area frame as well as a census of lists. (An estimate of the total undercount is given in the full report.) Although, beginning in 1995, the PSS definition of a school was expanded to include those schools for which kindergarten was the highest grade, referred to as kindergarten-terminal schools, all estimates presented in this report, unless otherwise stated, will be for traditional schools, i.e., those meeting the more restrictive pre-1995 PSS definition of having at least one of grades 1 through 12.

In the fall of 1997, there were 27,402 private elementary and secondary schools in the United States, a total not statistically different from the 27,686 schools counted in the fall of 1995 (Broughman and Colaciello 1998). Among these schools, there was considerable diversity as to orientation and affiliation. Of the three primary types of private schools-Catholic, other religious, and nonsectarian-other religious schools were the most numerous, followed by Catholic schools and then nonsectarian schools, representing 48, 30, and 22 percent of all private schools, respectively (table 1 and figure 1). Parochial schools were the most numerous type of Catholic schools, followed by diocesan and then private order schools. Among the three categories of other religious schools-conservative Christian, affiliated, and unaffiliated-there were fewer affiliated schools than conservative Christian schools or unaffiliated schools. Of the nonsectarian schools, regular schools were the most numerous, followed by special emphasis schools and then special education schools.

The regions with the most private schools were the Midwest (27 percent) and South (30 percent); the region with the fewest was the West (20 percent) (table 1). Ninety-one percent of private schools offered at least some elementary grades, with 61 percent offering elementary grades only and 30 percent offering a combination of elementary and secondary grades; the remaining 9 percent offered secondary grades only. Most private schools (82 percent) emphasized a regular elementary/secondary program. The other program emphasis categories-Montessori, special program emphasis, special education, vocational/technical, early childhood, and alternative-each contained fewer than 10 percent of private schools.

Table 1.—Number and percentage distribution of private schools, students, and FTE teachers, by private school typology and selected characteristics: United States, 1997-98

Figure 1.—Percentage distribution of private schools, by typology

Approximately 5 million students were enrolled in the nation's private schools in the fall of 1997, a total not statistically different from that of 1995 (Broughman and Colaciello 1998). Private school students represent approximately 10 percent of the total elementary and secondary students in the United States.¹

In contrast to the number of schools, more students were enrolled in Catholic schools than in other religious schools, 50 and 35 percent of total private enrollment, respectively (table 1 and figure 2). Like the number of schools, enrollment in nonsectarian schools, representing 16 percent of all private students, was less than that of Catholic or other religious schools. That Catholic schools represent approximately one-third of all private schools while containing half of private school students is an indication that the distribution of schools by size is not the same for the three types of schools. In fact, the percentage of schools that are small (fewer than 150 students) is over three times greater for other religious (72 percent) and nonsectarian (76 percent) schools than for Catholic schools (19 percent). The pattern of enrollment for the three categories of Catholic schools mirrored that of the number of schools; more students were enrolled in parochial schools, followed by diocesan schools and then private order schools. Among the three categories of other religious schools, the enrollment pattern did not mirror the number of schools. Enrollment was greatest in conservative Christian schools, followed by affiliated schools and then unaffiliated schools. Of the nonsectarian schools, regular schools had more students, followed by special emphasis schools and then special education schools.

Approximately 56 percent of private school students were enrolled in elementary schools, 16 percent were enrolled in secondary schools, and 29 percent were enrolled in combined schools (table 1). Ninety-two percent of private school students were enrolled in schools with a regular elementary/secondary program emphasis, while fewer than 5 percent of private school students were enrolled in schools featuring any one of the other categories of program emphasis.

About three-quarters (78 percent) of private school students were white, non-Hispanic; while 9, 8, 0.5, and 5 percent were black, non-Hispanic; Hispanic; American Indian/Alaska Native; or Asian/Pacific Islander, respectively.² Almost half of all private school students attended schools that were located in urban areas, and approximately 40 percent attended schools that were located in an urban fringe or a large town, while only 12 percent attended rural schools (table 1).

Figure 2.—Percentage distribution of private school students, by typology

The nation's private school students were taught by approximately 377,000 full-time-equivalent (FTE) teachers (table 1) in 1997, representing an increase over the number of FTE teachers employed in private schools in 1995 (Broughman and Colaciello 1998). In contrast to enrollment, Catholic schools and other religious schools each employed approximately the same number of FTE teachers (38 percent), while both employed more than nonsectarian schools (24 percent) (table 1 and figure 3). The pattern of teacher employment for the three categories of Catholic schools mirrored that of the number of schools and students; more FTE teachers were teaching in parochial schools, followed by diocesan schools and then private order schools. For other religious and nonsectarian schools, the number of FTE teachers followed the same pattern as the number of students enrolled. Among the three categories of other religious schools, conservative Christian schools employed the most teachers, followed by affiliated schools and then unaffiliated schools. Of the nonsectarian schools, more FTE teachers were employed by regular schools, followed by special emphasis schools and then special education schools.

Nearly one-half of FTE teachers (48 percent) were teaching in elementary schools, roughly one-third (36 percent) in combined schools, and about 16 percent in secondary schools. Almost 88 percent of private school FTE teachers were teaching in schools with a regular elementary/secondary program emphasis. As in the case of students, fewer than 5 percent of private school FTE teachers were teaching in schools featuring any one of the other categories of program emphasis.

Figure 3.—Percentage distribution of private school FTE teachers, by typology

Since 1995, schools for which kindergarten was the highest grade have been included in the PSS. In the fall of 1997, there were 6,493 of these schools enrolling 103,061 students and employing 14,816 FTE teachers nationwide. When the kindergarten-terminal schools are combined with the traditional PSS schools, the total number of schools becomes 33,895, with 5,179,181 students and 391,360 FTE teachers. Almost 7 out of 10 of the kindergarten-terminal schools were nonsectarian (69 percent), 28 percent were other religious, and 3 percent were Catholic.

By definition, all of these schools were classified as elementary, and almost all of them enrolled fewer than 150 students. Approximately 80 percent of these schools emphasized an early childhood program, 18 percent emphasized a Montessori program, and fewer than 5 percent each emphasized any one of the other program emphases.