Private School Universe Survey (PSS)
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Table 16. Number and percentage distribution of private schools, by school level and selected characteristics: United States, school year 2021–22
  School level
  Total   Elementary/Middle   Secondary/High   Combined/Other
Selected characteristic Number   Percent   Number   Percent   Number   Percent   Number   Percent
Total 29,727   100.0   17,692   100.0   3,509   100.0   8,526   100.0
                               
Private school typology                              
Catholic 6,122   20.6   4,640   26.2   1,091   31.1   390   4.6
Parochial 1,789   6.0   1,656   9.4   75   2.1   58   0.7
Diocesan 3,247   10.9   2,564   14.5   522   14.9   162   1.9
Private 1,086   3.7   421   2.4   494   14.1   170   2.0
                               
Other religious 13,507   45.4   7,056   39.9   961   27.4   5,490   64.4
Conservative Christian 3,549   11.9   956   5.4   165   4.7   2,429   28.5
Other affiliated 3,441   11.6   1,948   11.0   383   10.9   1,109   13.0
Unaffiliated 6,516   21.9   4,152   23.5   413   11.8   1,951   22.9
                               
Nonsectarian 10,099   34.0   5,996   33.9   1,457   41.5   2,646   31.0
Regular 4,729   15.9   3,104   17.5   625   17.8   999   11.7
Special emphasis 3,597   12.1   2,615   14.8   454   12.9   528   6.2
Special education 1,773   6.0   277   1.6   378   10.8   1,119   13.1
                               
Program emphasis                              
Regular elementary/secondary 20,186   67.9   11,555   65.3   2,473   70.5   6,157   72.2
Montessori 2,441   8.2   2,248   12.7   ‡   ‡   180   2.1
Special program emphasis 918   3.1   470   2.7   148   4.2   299   3.5
Special education 2,011   6.8   312   1.8   425   12.1   1,274   14.9
Vocational/technical 28   0.1   ‡   ‡   20   0.6   ‡   ‡
Alternative 1,439   4.8   429   2.4   429   12.2   582   6.8
Early childhood 2,705   9.1   2,677   15.1   †   †   26   0.3
                               
Size (number of students)                              
Less than 50 11,878   40.0   8,255   46.7   1,134   32.3   2,489   29.2
50–149 8,075   27.2   4,706   26.6   823   23.5   2,545   29.9
150–299 5,260   17.7   3,207   18.1   502   14.3   1,551   18.2
300–499 2,536   8.5   1,183   6.7   462   13.2   892   10.5
500–749 1,139   3.8   271   1.5   319   9.1   550   6.5
750 or more 839   2.8   70   0.4   270   7.7   499   5.9
                               
Region                              
Northeast 6,370   21.4   3,742   21.2   1,072   30.5   1,555   18.2
Midwest 6,928   23.3   4,922   27.8   654   18.6   1,353   15.9
South 10,562   35.5   5,296   29.9   977   27.8   4,289   50.3
West 5,867   19.7   3,732   21.1   807   23.0   1,328   15.6
                               
Urbanicity type                              
City 10,119   34.0   6,177   34.9   1,409   40.1   2,533   29.7
Suburban 11,259   37.9   6,959   39.3   1,294   36.9   3,006   35.3
Town 2,590   8.7   1,433   8.1   184   5.2   973   11.4
Rural 5,760   19.4   3,123   17.7   623   17.8   2,013   23.6
† Not applicable.
‡ 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). 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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