Nation's Private School Enrollment Held Steady from 2019-20 to 2021-22 School Year

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) releases today the data from the 2021-22 Private School Universe Survey (PSS). The PSS is a biennial data collection of all K-12 private schools across the U.S. PSS serves as the nation’s primary source of information on U.S. private schools, including the number of private schools, number of teachers, and student enrollment in private schools. Key findings from 2021-22 PSS data include: Overall, the number of students enrolled in K-12 private schools held steady between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 school years. Enrollment in grades K-4 increased between 3 and 9 percent across these grade levels. Enrollment in grade levels 5-12 held steady, except for 11th grade, where there was a 3 percent decrease compared with 2019-20. Enrollment in combined/other private schools (schools that comprise one or more of grades K-6 and one or more of grades 9-12, or schools that are ungraded) increased by 8 percent. Enrollment in Catholic schools decreased by 4 percent, while enrollment in Other religious schools (Conservative Christian, other affiliated, and unaffiliated religious schools) increased by 8 percent. Overall, the number of K-12 private schools decreased by 3 percent between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 school years. The number of elementary/middle schools decreased 6 percent. The number of Catholic schools decreased by 5 percent. The overall number of teachers (FTE) held steady between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 school years. The number of teachers in elementary/middle schools decreased by 3 percent, while the number of teachers in combined/other schools increased by 5 percent. The number of teachers in Catholic schools decreased by 4 percent, while the number of teachers in Other religious schools increased by 4 percent. View selected findings and tables from the 21-22 PSS.  Download available PSS data.