Private School Universe Survey (PSS)
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Table 8. Number and percentage distribution of private schools, by school size and selected characteristics: United States, school year 2021–22
                                                   
    Less than 50
students		   50-149
students		   150-299
students		   300-499
students		   500-749
students		   750 or more
students		  
Selected characteristic   Number   Percent   Number   Percent   Number   Percent   Number   Percent   Number   Percent   Number   Percent  
Total   11,878   40.0   8,075   27.2   5,260   17.7   2,536   8.5   1,139   3.8   839   2.8  
                                                   
Private school typology                                                  
Catholic   339   5.5   1,592   26.0   2,360   38.6   1,122   18.3   419   6.8   289   4.7  
Parochial   85   4.7   506   28.3   794   44.4   313   17.5   67   3.7   24   1.3  
Diocesan   137   4.2   825   25.4   1,293   39.8   627   19.3   229   7.1   135   4.2  
Private   117   10.8   261   24.0   273   25.1   182   16.7   123   11.3   131   12.0  
                                                   
Other religious   5,813   43.0   3,874   28.7   2,072   15.3   920   6.8   494   3.7   333   2.5  
Conservative Christian   948   26.7   1,145   32.3   748   21.1   368   10.4   211   6.0   129   3.6  
Other affiliated   997   29.0   1,125   32.7   701   20.4   314   9.1   172   5.0   131   3.8  
Unaffiliated   3,867   59.3   1,604   24.6   622   9.5   238   3.7   111   1.7   74   1.1  
                                                   
Nonsectarian   5,726   56.7   2,608   25.8   828   8.2   495   4.9   226   2.2   216   2.1  
Regular   2,420   51.2   992   21.0   519   11.0   406   8.6   206   4.4   186   3.9  
Special emphasis   2,351   65.4   938   26.1   196   5.4   65   1.8   ‡   ‡   28   0.8  
Special education   955   53.8   678   38.3   113   6.4   23   1.3   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡  
                                                   
School level                                                  
Elementary/Middle   8,255   46.7   4,706   26.6   3,207   18.1   1,183   6.7   271   1.5   70   0.4  
Secondary/High   1,134   32.3   823   23.5   502   14.3   462   13.2   319   9.1   270   7.7  
Combined/Other   2,489   29.2   2,545   29.9   1,551   18.2   892   10.5   550   6.5   499   5.9  
                                                   
Program emphasis                                                  
Regular elementary/ secondary   5,118   25.4   6,000   29.7   4,816   23.9   2,375   11.8   1,095   5.4   782   3.9  
Montessori   1,788   73.3   554   22.7   82   3.4   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡  
Special program emphasis   320   34.8   328   35.7   139   15.1   82   9.0   24   2.6   26   2.8  
Special education   1,092   54.3   762   37.9   129   6.4   24   1.2   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡  
Vocational/technical   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   0   0.0   ‡   ‡  
Alternative   933   64.8   347   24.1   81   5.6   35   2.4   ‡   ‡   25   1.7  
Early childhood   2,615   96.7   75   2.8   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   0   0.0   ‡   ‡  
                                                   
Region                                                  
Northeast   2,781   43.7   1,620   25.4   1,074   16.9   508   8.0   227   3.6   160   2.5  
Midwest   2,535   36.6   2,034   29.4   1,354   19.5   607   8.8   248   3.6   150   2.2  
South   4,275   40.5   2,859   27.1   1,686   16.0   909   8.6   478   4.5   354   3.3  
West   2,287   39.0   1,561   26.6   1,146   19.5   512   8.7   185   3.2   176   3.0  
                                                   
Urbancity type                                                  
City   3,215   31.8   2,676   26.4   2,118   20.9   1,117   11.0   516   5.1   477   4.7  
Suburban   4,360   38.7   2,921   25.9   2,122   18.9   1,046   9.3   502   4.5   308   2.7  
Town   1,000   38.6   988   38.1   435   16.8   120   4.6   33   1.3   ‡   ‡  
Rural   3,303   57.3   1,490   25.9   585   10.1   253   4.4   88   1.5   41   0.7  
‡ Reporting standards not met. There are too few cases for a reliable analysis.
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). Any prekindergarten students enrolled in these schools are excluded from the table. Beginning with the 2021-22 PSS, the way ungraded levels were categorized in the school level variable was changed, and data in this table are based on the new categorization. Caution should be exercised when comparing estimates by school level over time. For more information, see the PSS User's Manual (Iaconelli et al., 2023, NCES 2024-011).
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 2021–22.

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