Enrollment in elementary and secondary schools

The National Center for Education Statistics has released Projections of Education Statistics to 2021.

This publication provides projections for key education statistics. It includes statistics on enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary schools, and enrollment and earned degrees conferred expenditures of degree-granting institutions. For the Nation, the tables, figures, and text contain data on enrollment, teachers, graduates, and expenditures for the past 14 years and projections to the year 2021. For the 50 States and the District of Columbia, the tables, figures, and text contain data on projections of public elementary and secondary enrollment and public high school graduates to the year 2021. In addition, the report includes a methodology section describing models and assumptions used to develop national and state-level projections.

Postsecondary enrollment rose by 46 percent between 1996 and 2010, and is projected to increase another 15 percent by 2021. The Projections of Education Statistics to 2021 provides national-level data on enrollment, teachers, high school graduates, and expenditures at the elementary and secondary school level and enrollment and earned degrees at the postsecondary level for the past 14 years and projections to the year 2021. This is the 40th edition of a publication first initiated in 1964.

Other findings include:

• Enrollment in elementary and secondary schools rose 6 percent between 1996 and 2010 and is projected to increase an additional 7 percent between 2010 and 2021.

• Reflecting actual and projected changes in the high school-age population, the number of high school graduates increased by 28 percent between 1996-97 and 2008-09, and an increase of 2 percent is projected by 2021-22.

• After adjusting for inflation, current expenditure per pupil increased by 32 percent between 1996-97 and 2008-09, and a further increase of 15 percent is projected by 2021-22.