Getting an Education - Private Schools

Enrollment in public schools far surpasses enrollment in private schools. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) projects that total elementary and secondary school enrollment will continue to rise, reaching 55.9 million in 2012. (See Figure 6.2.) During this same period total private school enrollment is expected to rise from 6.2 million in 2001 to 6.6 million in 2013.

NCES statistics show that more than three-quarters (77.4%) of private school students in 1999–2000 were white. African-American students made up only 9.4% of private school students; 8.3% were Hispanic; and 4.5% were Asian/Pacific Islander. Most private schools (95.6%) were coeducational, and close to equal percentages of boys (50.7%) and girls (49.3%) attended.

Catholic Schools

According to the NCES report Private School Universe Survey: 1999–2000 (August 2001), the most recent report available, 29.8% of all private schools in 1999–2000 were Catholic, and 48.6% of private school students attended Catholic schools. Economic and social changes have caused a decline in Catholic school enrollment and in the number of Catholic schools. In 1985 there were 9,220 Catholic schools in the United States; by 2002 there were only 8,114. Many closures took place in inner cities where financial difficulties made closings necessary. Between 1982 and 1999 Catholic school enrollment in elementary

TABLE 6.5

Average earnings by educational attainment, sex, race, and Hispanic origin for all workers, age 18 and over, 2002
Characteristic	Total	Not a high graduate	High school graduate	Some college degree or associate's	Bachelor's degree	Advanced degree
SOURCE: Nicole Stoops, "Table C. Average Earnings in 2002 by Educational Attainment, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin for All Workers, 18 Years and Over," in Educational Attainment in the United States: 2003, Current Population Reports, P20–550, U.S. Census Bureau, June 2004, http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-550.pdf (accessed September 16, 2004)
Total	$36,308	$18,826	$27,280	$31,046	$51,194	$72,824
Men	$44,310	$22,091	$32,673	$38,377	$63,503	$90,761
Women	$27,271	$13,459	$21,141	$23,905	$37,909	$50,756
White alone	$37,376	$19,264	$28,145	$31,878	$52,479	$73,870
Non-Hispanic white alone	$39,220	$19,423	$28,756	$32,318	$53,185	$74,122
Black alone	$28,179	$16,516	$22,823	$27,626	$42,285	$59,944
Asian alone	$40,793	$16,746	$24,900	$27,340	$46,628	$72,852
Hispanic (of any race)	$25,824	$18,981	$24,163	$27,757	$40,949	$67,679

and secondary schools dropped from three million to 2.5 million, but rose again to 2.6 million in 2002.

Other Religious and Nonreligious Private Schools

The other types of private schools are non-Catholic religious schools and nonreligious (nonsectarian) schools. According to the NCES report, non-Catholic religious schools made up 48.6% of all private schools in 1999–2000 and enrolled 35.7% of all private school students. Nonsectarian schools enrolled only 15.7% of private school students in 21.6% of private schools.