Condition of Education 2023 - More Data

NCES released the Report on the Condition of Education 2023 on May 24, 2023. The May release included a summary report (available here) and an initial set of detailed analyses in the form of indicators. On August 30, NCES released an additional set of indicators, available on the Condition of Education webpage. The Condition reports on the state of education in the United States, from prekindergarten through postsecondary education, as well as labor force outcomes and international comparisons. New indicators released in August are primarily focused on postsecondary topics, and differences in educational experiences by geographic locale (city, suburb, town, rural). In addition, our spotlight indicator on Recovery From the Coronavirus Pandemic in K–12 Education was updated with revised data from the School Pulse Panel. Key findings from the report include: Some 69 percent of public schools reported that the percentage of students who had sought mental health services from school had increased since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. In comparison, only 13 percent strongly agreed and 43 percent moderately agreed that their school was able to effectively provide mental health services to all students in need. Generally, among public and private schools with open teaching positions in particular subject-matter fields, higher percentages reported having difficulties filling these openings in 2020–21 than in 2011–12. In 2020–21, the proportion of K–12 public school teachers who were White (80 percent) was higher than the proportion of K–12 public school students who were White (46 percent), whereas the proportion of teachers of other racial/ethnic groups was lower than the proportion of students in those groups. The percentage of 3- to 4-year-olds enrolled in school in 2021 (50 percent) was 10 percentage points higher than 2020 (40 percent), but remained lower than 2019 (54 percent). Between fall 2019 and fall 2020, while traditional public school enrollment decreased by 4 percent, public charter school enrollment increased by 7 percent. Between fall 2010 and fall 2021, total undergraduate enrollment decreased by 15 percent (from 18.1 million to 15.4 million students), with 42 percent (1.1 million students) of this decline occurring during the pandemic. Meanwhile, total enrollment in postbaccalaureate programs increased by 5 percent between fall 2010 and fall 2019 (from 2.9 million to 3.1 million students) and continued to increase by another 5 percent during the pandemic (to 3.2 million students in fall 2021). Of the degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions in 2020–21, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields made up 8 percent of associate’s degrees, 21 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 17 percent of master’s degrees, and 15 percent of doctor’s degrees Between 2010 and 2022, educational attainment rates among 25- to 29-year-olds increased at different levels of attainment. In general, educational attainment rates increased for both male and female 25- to 29-year-olds as well as for most racial/ethnic groups. However, attainment gaps between some groups persisted in 2022. Analyses in the report are supported by tables in the Digest of Education Statistics. Readers can browse these tables for additional detail on topics presented in the Condition.