Number and percentage distribution of private school students, by school level and selected characteristics: United States, 2003

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Private School Universe Survey (PSS)

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Number and percentage distribution of private school students, by school level and selected characteristics: United States, 2003–04
Selected characteristic	Total		Elementary		Secondary		Combined
Selected characteristic	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent


Total	5,122,772	100.0	2,694,494	100.0	845,083	100.0	1,583,194	100.0

NCES typology
Catholic	2,365,220	46.2	1,658,769	61.6	609,601	72.1	96,850	6.1
Parochial	1,097,417	21.4	1,006,023	37.3	74,572	8.8	16,821	1.1
Diocesan	908,583	17.7	592,824	22.0	290,947	34.4	24,813	1.6
Private	359,220	7.0	59,921	2.2	244,082	28.9	55,217	3.5

Other religious	1,835,559	35.8	734,408	27.3	116,986	13.8	984,165	62.2
Conservative Christian	773,847	15.1	216,009	8.0	24,700	2.9	533,138	33.7
Affiliated	553,305	10.8	263,694	9.8	60,890	7.2	228,721	14.4
Unaffiliated	508,407	9.9	254,705	9.5	31,395	3.7	222,307	14.0

Nonsectarian	921,993	18.0	301,318	11.2	118,497	14.0	502,179	31.7
Regular	603,442	11.8	178,559	6.6	87,404	10.3	337,479	21.3
Special emphasis	213,986	4.2	108,763	4.0	21,308	2.5	83,914	5.3
Special education	104,566	2.0	13,996	0.5	9,784	1.2	80,786	5.1

School level
Elementary	2,694,494	52.6	2,694,494	100.0	†	†	†	†
Secondary	845,083	16.5	†	†	845,083	100.0	†	†
Combined	1,583,194	30.9	†	†	†	†	1,583,194	100.0

Program emphasis
Regular elementary/secondary
Regular elementary/secondary	4,639,235	90.6	2,510,998	93.2	783,644	92.7	1,344,593	84.9
Montessori	83,110	1.6	72,296	2.7	‡	‡	9,678	0.6
Special program emphasis	170,196	3.3	58,875	2.2	27,667	3.3	83,654	5.3
Special education	114,829	2.2	15,940	0.6	10,551	1.2	88,338	5.6
Vocational/technical	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡	‡
Alternative	109,947	2.1	31,968	1.2	21,147	2.5	56,832	3.6
Early childhood	4,518	0.1	4,418	0.2	†	†	‡	‡

Size (number of students)
Less than 50	223,772	4.4	129,176	4.8	16,005	1.9	78,590	5.0
50–149	759,730	14.8	490,492	18.2	54,725	6.5	214,513	13.5
150–299	1,352,489	26.4	953,075	35.4	92,355	10.9	307,059	19.4
300–499	1,153,619	22.5	698,941	25.9	154,941	18.3	299,737	18.9
500–749	777,224	15.2	328,073	12.2	168,630	20.0	280,521	17.7
750 or more	855,938	16.7	94,738	3.5	358,426	42.4	402,774	25.4

Region
Northeast	1,273,012	24.9	683,316	25.4	296,128	35.0	293,568	18.5
Midwest	1,270,736	24.8	817,570	30.3	233,419	27.6	219,747	13.9
South	1,611,775	31.5	656,584	24.4	160,380	19.0	794,810	50.2
West	967,249	18.9	537,023	19.9	155,156	18.4	275,070	17.4

Community type
Central city	2,182,282	42.6	1,142,014	42.4	445,266	52.7	595,002	37.6
Urban fringe/large town	2,291,408	44.7	1,274,408	47.3	323,578	38.3	693,422	43.8
Rural/small town	649,082	12.7	278,072	10.3	76,238	9.0	294,771	18.6

† Not applicable.
! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation for this estimate is larger than 25 percent. The standard error for this estimate is presented in the corresponding table in appendix C.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding or missing values in cells with too few sample cases.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Private School Universe Survey (PSS), 2003–2004.

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