Number and percentage distribution of private schools, students, and full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers, by selected characteristics: United States, 2019

Private School Universe Survey (PSS)

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Table 1. Number and percentage distribution of private schools, students, and full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers, by selected characteristics: United States, 2019–20


Selected characteristic	Schools		Students		FTE teachers
Selected characteristic	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Total	30,492	100.0	4,652,904	100.0	481,200	100.0

Private school typology
Catholic	6,449	21.2	1,742,968	37.5	139,996	29.1
Parochial	2,196	7.2	493,142	10.6	38,473	8.0
Diocesan	3,081	10.1	833,231	17.9	65,198	13.5
Private	1,172	3.8	416,595	9.0	36,324	7.5

Other religious	13,794	45.2	1,812,687	39.0	185,988	38.7
Conservative Christian	3,698	12.1	590,997	12.7	57,680	12.0
Other affiliated	3,134	10.3	572,256	12.3	61,711	12.8
Unaffiliated	6,962	22.8	649,434	14.0	66,597	13.8

Nonsectarian	10,249	33.6	1,097,249	23.6	155,217	32.3
Regular	4,985	16.3	750,327	16.1	98,789	20.5
Special emphasis	3,470	11.4	227,108	4.9	32,944	6.8
Special education	1,794	5.9	119,815	2.6	23,484	4.9

School level¹
Elementary/Middle	18,890	61.9	2,003,418	43.1	198,383	41.2
Secondary/High	3,479	11.4	896,318	19.3	87,620	18.2
Combined/Other	8,124	26.6	1,753,168	37.7	195,198	40.6

Program emphasis
Regular elementary/secondary	21,083	69.1	4,145,030	89.1	403,777	83.9
Montessori	2,566	8.4	98,631	2.1	17,758	3.7
Special program emphasis	929	3.0	149,666	3.2	17,478	3.6
Special education	2,025	6.6	133,136	2.9	25,761	5.4
Vocational/technical	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡
Alternative	843	2.8	75,994	1.6	7,638	1.6
Early childhood	3,033	9.9	49,244	1.1	8,630	1.8

Size (number of students)
Less than 50	12,636	41.4	270,534	5.8	48,372	10.1
50-149	8,223	27.0	757,820	16.3	95,329	19.8
150-299	5,271	17.3	1,106,966	23.8	108,689	22.6
300-499	2,460	8.1	939,168	20.2	86,770	18.0
500-749	1,064	3.5	643,984	13.8	60,676	12.6
750 or more	838	2.7	934,433	20.1	81,365	16.9

Region
Northeast	6,739	22.1	982,265	21.1	114,510	23.8
Midwest	7,057	23.1	1,062,916	22.8	97,337	20.2
South	10,671	35.0	1,695,730	36.4	180,843	37.6
West	6,025	19.8	911,994	19.6	88,510	18.4

Urbanicity type
City	10,445	34.3	2,057,808	44.2	210,716	43.8
Suburban	11,670	38.3	1,819,082	39.1	188,092	39.1
Town	2,476	8.1	269,057	5.8	27,199	5.7
Rural	5,901	19.4	506,957	10.9	55,194	11.5
‡ Reporting standards not met. There are fewer than 15 sample cases.
¹ Schools are assigned to one of three school level categories in the 2019–20 PSS: Elementary/Middle, High/secondary, and Combined/other. Elementary/middle schools are defined as schools that enroll students in more of grades K through 4 than in higher grades or that enroll students in more of grades 5 through 8 than in higher or lower grades. High/secondary schools are defined as schools that enroll students in more of grades 9 through 12 than in lower grades. Combined/other schools include all other combinations of grades, including K-12 schools. School level categories in the 2019–20 PSS differ from those in previous survey administrations; caution should be exercised when comparing estimates by level over time.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding or missing values in cells with too few sample cases. These estimates include private schools which provide instruction for one or more of grades kindergarten through twelve (or comparable ungraded levels).
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 2019–20.

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