Trends in the Use of School Choice: 1993 to 2007
NCES 2010-004
April 2010

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View addendum: Percentage of private school students ages 5-17, enrolled in grades 1–12, by poverty status and parents' highest level of education: 2007

Table 2.

Percentage distribution of students enrolled in grades 1–12 within public and private school types, by student and household characteristics: 2007

Student and household characteristics     School type  
Total   Public, assigned   Public,
chosen		   Private, religious   Private, nonsectarian  
Total 100   100   100   100   100  
                     
Sex                    
Male 52   52   53   50   57  
Female 48   48   47   50   43  
                     
Race/ethnicity1                    
White 58   58   47   73   69  
Black 15   14   22   9   11  
Hispanic 19   19   21   12   9  
Asian or Pacific Islander 3   3   3   3   6 !
Other race 5   5   6   3   5  
                     
Grade level                    
Grades 1–5 42   41   46   42   46  
Grades 6–8 26   27   20   26   25  
Grades 9–12 32   32   34   33   29  
                     
Disability status                    
Has a disability 24   24   21   20   24  
Does not have a disability 76   76   79   80   76  
                     
Poverty status2                    
Poor 19   20   22   6   6 !
Near-poor 19   20   21   11   4 !
Nonpoor 62   60   57   84   90  
                     
Parents' highest level of education3                    
Less than high school diploma or GED 7   8   5   1 ! 2 !
High school diploma or GED 22   24   22   9   10  
Some college/vocational/technical 29   29   30   25   12  
Bachelor's degree 22   21   22   30   20  
Graduate/professional school 21   18   22   36   56  
                     
Family structure                    
Two parents 72   72   68   83   81  
One parent 24   24   26   15   18  
Nonparent guardians 4   4   6 ! 2   1 !
                     
Region                    
Northeast 18   18   14   22   24  
South 36   37   33   35   33  
Midwest 22   22   21   26   12 !
West 24   23   32   17   32  
                     
Locale                    
City 32   27   46   35   53  
Suburb 37   38   29   45   34  
Town 11   12   8   7   6  
Rural 20   22   17   13   7 !
! Interpret data with caution; the estimates are unstable; coefficient of variation is 30 percent or more.
1 Black includes African American, Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian, and Hispanic includes Latino. The Other race category includes students who are not Hispanic, who reported their race as either “American Indian or Alaska Native” or reported more than one race. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.
2 Poor students are defined as those with household incomes below 100 percent of the poverty threshold; near-poor students as those with household incomes from 100 through 199 percent of the poverty threshold; and nonpoor students as those with household incomes at or above 200 percent of the poverty threshold.
3 GED is General Educational Development.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), 2007.