Percentage of private schools with 12th-graders, number of graduates, graduation rate, and percentage of graduates who attended 4-year colleges, by selected characteristics: United States, 2018

Private School Universe Survey (PSS)

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Table 13. Percentage of private schools with 12th-graders, number of graduates, graduation rate, and percentage of graduates who attended 4-year colleges, by selected characteristics: United States, 2018–19


Selected characteristic	Percent of schools with 12^th-graders in 2018–19	Number of 2018–19 graduates	2018–19 graduation rate¹	Percent of 2018–19 graduates who attended 4-year colleges by fall 2019
Total	31.8	340,609	96.4	64.5

Private school typology
Catholic	22.6	146,744	98.9	85.2
Parochial	8.9	12,051	99.3	82.7
Diocesan	19.1	65,656	98.6	85.0
Private	57.1	69,038	99.3	86.1

Other religious	35.9	107,875	98.2	63.7
Conservative Christian	61.2	38,272	98.7	63.3
Other affiliated	32.3	34,016	98.5	72.4
Unaffiliated	24.2	35,588	97.4	58.9

Nonsectarian	32.1	85,990	90.3	55.6
Regular	31.0	67,869	98.5	77.5
Special emphasis	17.2	11,749	79.0	53.7
Special education	63.9	6,373	55.3	19.1

School level²
Elementary/Middle	0.7	1,208	82.6	43.7
Secondary/High	92.8	177,964	97.9	70.4
Combined/Other	78.1	161,437	94.7	61.9

Program emphasis
Regular elementary/ secondary	35.7	314,356	98.8	71.5
Montessori	2.5	682	97.4	62.7
Special program emphasis	37.8	10,709	97.2	72.8
Special education	62.3	6,768	55.5	18.9
Vocational/technical	‡	‡	‡	‡
Alternative	58.9	7,744	70.2	39.6
Early childhood	†	†	†	†

Size (number of students)
Less than 50	18.8	8,416	76.1	43.0
50 -149	32.7	26,457	89.8	52.3
150- 299	35.4	46,369	96.0	71.2
300-499	48.9	64,564	98.4	83.7
500-749	74.9	75,271	98.6	89.5
750 or more	91.6	119,531	97.5	91.4

Region
Northeast	31.0	84,403	96.1	61.9
Midwest	24.7	68,098	97.3	65.5
South	39.2	124,109	96.3	66.3
West	28.0	63,999	95.9	62.2

Urbancity type
City	32.9	161,464	97.3	70.1
Suburban	29.8	128,726	95.4	64.1
Town	31.0	13,462	97.9	59.0
Rural	34.3	36,958	95.2	57.6
† Not applicable
‡ Reporting standards not met. There are fewer than 15 sample cases.
¹ The 2018–19 graduation rate is the percent of 12th graders enrolled around October 1, 2018 who graduated in 2018–19.
²Schools 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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