Characteristics of Private Schools in the U.S. (2015-16)

There were more than 34,500 private schools in the United States in the fall of 2015, serving nearly 5 million students, according to a new report released today (August 15). The National Center for Education Statistics released a new First Look report entitled Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results from the 2015–16 Private School Universe Survey. This report examines the characteristics of private school in 2015-16 school year. Results include: • There were 35,576 private schools in the United States in fall 2015, enrolling 4,903,596 students, and employing 481,558 full-time-equivalent teachers. • In 2015-16, there were more private schools in suburban locations (12,662) and cities (11,476) than in rural areas (7,539) and towns (2,900); About 96 percent of all private schools in 2015-16 were coeducational, while 2 percent enrolled all girls and 2 percent enrolled all boys; and • Of the grade 12 students enrolled in private schools on October 1, 2014, about 97 percent graduated in 2014-2015. Of the 343,252 private high school graduates in 2014–15, about 65 percent attended 4-year colleges by the fall of 2015. To view the full report, please visit http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2017073