# Presentation: 733186

## School Enrollment: 2000

**School Enrollment: 2000**

**Notes:**
According to Census 2000, more than one-fourth of the U.S. population aged 3 and older attended school in the spring of 2000. The 76.6 million students included 5.0 million in kindergarten, 33.7 million in elementary school, 16.4 million in high school, 14.4 million in college (undergraduate), and 3.1 million in graduate school. 
This report presents population and housing data collected by Census 2000, and provides a profile of the student population in the United States.
Information on school enrollment is required by law in order to profile the economic and social conditions of school-age children; to improve the education of economically disadvantaged children; to improve the educational opportunities of individuals with disabilities; and to implement and evaluate programs or enforce laws.
Data on school enrollment are used by a number of federal agencies for funding allocations, program planning, and program implementation.

SPEAKER NOTES: This presentation is based on the Census 2000 brief, School Enrollment: 2000, issued August 2003, and was developed by A. Emmy Warwick of the Census Bureau’s Marketing Services Office <amparo.emmy.warwick@census.gov>.
3-31-04

## Decennial censuses have included a question on school enrollment since 1840.

**Notes:**
Decennial censuses have included a question on school enrollment since 1840. Early versions of the enrollment question asked only if each person in the household had attended school (excluding Sunday school) within the last year. By 1890, the question requested the number of months each person aged 5 to 17 attended school in the previous year, with instructions to enter zero if the person did not attend school at all. By 1910, the enrollment question dropped the request for the number of months in school, inquiring only if the person had been enrolled at some time since September of the previous year. In the 1930 census, the term “college” was added to the enrollment question. In 1940, a question on highest level or grade attended was added to determine both the grade enrolled and the highest grade completed. In addition, the school enrollment item limited the time frame to “enrollment since February 1” of the census year, a concept still in use today. The 1960 census introduced a follow-up question on type of school – public or private/parochial. In 1990, the question on “level of attendance” was changed to ask for the “highest degree or level completed.” This modification improved the data collected o educational attainment, but limited the detail on level of enrollment.
Census 2000 collected information on the school enrollment of people aged 3 and over, using the two-part questions shown. These questions provided information on the number of people enrolled in school, their level of schooling, and whether the school was public or private.

## Among the 76.6 million students, 56 percent were enrolled in pre-school, kindergarten, or elementary school; 21 percent were in high school; and 23 percent attended colleges across the nation.

**Notes:**
Among the 76.6 million students, 56 percent were enrolled in pre-school, kindergarten, or elementary school; 21 percent were in high school; and 23 percent attended colleges across the nation.

## Slide 4

**Notes:**
Although the percentage of people aged 3 and over who were enrolled increased only modestly between 1990 and 2000, from 27 percent to 28 percent, this statistic conceals the sizable numerical increase in the student population and the consequent stresses on school system, such as overcrowding and teacher shortages. Over the decade, the number of students grew by 12 million or 18 percent. 
Substantial growth in the number of school-aged children (those aged 5 to 17) accounts for most of this increased enrollment. In fact, during the decade, elementary and high schools added 8 million students to their classrooms, reaching a record peak of 50 million students by April 2000.

## School attendance is compulsory for children 7 to 15 years old.

**Notes:**
School attendance is compulsory for children 7 to 15 years old.

## Percent enrolled.

**Notes:**
In 2000, 98.7 percent of children in the 7 to 15 years old age group were enrolled in school. The corresponding proportions were 49 percent for children 3 and 4 years old and 91 percent for children 5 and 6 years old. More than one-third (36 percent) of young adults (aged 20 to 24) and 12 percent of people 25 to 34 years old were enrolled in college.

## Boys outnumbered girls in elementary and high school.

**Notes:**
Boys outnumbered girls in elementary and high school in 2000.

## Slide 8

**Notes:**
Fifty-one percent of the students in elementary and high school were male, compared with 49 percent female, reflecting a greater number of boys than girls born each year. Yet, at the college level in 2000, female students outnumbered the male students, accounting for 55 percent of undergraduate and 54 percent of graduate college students. 
Historically, the reverse was true; until 1979, more men than women were attending college.

## At all educational levels, the student body reflected the diverse national population.

**Notes:**
At all educational levels, the student body reflected the diverse national population.

## Slide 10

**Notes:**
Most students were non-Hispanic White alone (63 percent). Black alone students and Hispanic students (who may be of any race) each composed 15 percent of the student body. Asian alone students made up 4 percent, as did students of Two or more races. At the nursery school/kindergarten, elementary, and high school levels, the racial/ethnic make-up of the student body reflected the overall composition of the population under age 18, with less than 1 percent difference in the percent distribution of the two populations. At the college level, however, the composition shifted to a slightly higher proportion of non-Hispanic White and Asian students, and a slightly smaller proportion of Hispanic students.

SPEAKER NOTES: Census 2000 allowed respondents to choose more than one race. With the exception of the Two or more races group, all race groups discussed in this report refer to people who indicated only one racial identity among the six major categories:  White, Black or African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and Some other race. The use of the single-race population in this report does not imply that it is the preferred method of presenting or analyzing data. The Census Bureau uses a variety of approaches.

## In all four regions of the country, enrollment rates increased only slightly between 1990 and 2000.

**Notes:**
In all four regions of the country, enrollment rates increased only slightly between 1990 and 2000.

## Slide 12

**Notes:**
The West, with its younger population, had the largest percentage of people aged 3 and over enrolled in 2000 (30 percent), slightly higher than the 28 percent in the three other regions of the country.
As expected, the number of students in each region reflected the region’s population size. More students lived in the most populous region, the South (27 million), followed by the West and the Midwest (1.8 million each), and the Northeast (14 million).
Over the decade, the number of students did not increase uniformly among the four regions, but grew by 25 percent in the West, 21 percent in the South, 13 percent in the Northeast, and 11 percent in the Midwest. Most of this increase can be attributed to population growth, but not all.

## The percentage of high school dropouts decreased during the 1990s.

**Notes:**
The percentage of high school dropouts decreased during the 1990s.

## Slide 14

**Notes:**
Unfortunately, not all students complete high school. Among people aged 16 to 19 in 2000, 9.8 percent were high school dropouts (i.e., not high school graduates and not currently enrolled in school). This percentage was lower than in 1990 (11.2 percent), reflecting an improvement for most races and Hispanic origin groups. Only the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander race group did not show a significant improvement. 
Asians (4.0 percent) and non-Hispanic Whites (6.9 percent) had the lowest percentages of high school dropouts in 2000; Hispanics (21.1 percent) had the highest.
While the dropout rate decreased between 1990 and 2000, the number of high school dropouts aged 16 to 19 also decreased slightly from 1.61 million to 1.57 million. 
For some groups, the number of high school dropouts increased dramatically due to their rapid population growth and only modest improvement in high school completion rates.
While the total number of 16– to 19-year old dropouts decreased by 2 percent, the number of dropouts in the Hispanic population increased by 52 percent.

## High school dropout rates differed among states.

**Notes:**
High school dropout rates differed among states.

## Slide 16

**Notes:**
Dropout rates were highest in the South and the West. In 2000, Nevada (16 percent) and Arizona (15 percent) had the highest dropout rates, followed closely by Georgia (14 percent). States with the lowest high school dropout rates, that were at or below 6 percent included, North Dakota, Iowa, Vermont, Minnesota, and Hawaii.
Counties with higher dropout rates were concentrated primarily in the South and southwestern areas, with pockets scattered through other parts of the country. All but nine states contained at least one county that exceeded the national average high-school rate.

## Of places with a population of 100,000 or more, Provo, Utah, had the highest percentage of people aged 3 and over who were college students.

**Notes:**
Of places with a population of 100,000 or more, Provo, Utah, had the highest percentage of people aged 3 and over who were college students.

## Slide 18

**Notes:**
The ten places of 100,000 or more population with the highest percentage of college students in 2000, were all places that were home to large universities.
Topping the list, with 38 percent college students, is Provo, Utah (Brigham Young University); followed by Ann Arbor, Michigan (University of Michigan); Tallahassee, Florida (Florida State University); Athens-Clarke County, Georgia (University of Georgia) Cambridge, Massachusetts (Harvard, MIT, Radcliffe,); and Berkeley, California (University of California at Berkeley).

## In April 2000, 5.2 million first-through-twelfth graders attended private schools, or 10.4 percent of students in those grades.

**Notes:**
In April 2000, 5.2 million first-through-twelfth graders attended private schools, or 10.4 percent of students in those grades.
Although the proportion of students in private school increased only modestly from the 1990 level (9.8 percent), the number of students in these schools soared from 4.2 million to 5.2 million, a 24-percent increase. 

## Slide 20

**Notes:**
Difference in private school attendance rates among groups reflect several factors, including economic ability to afford the cost of private school tuition, religious affiliation, and quality of the local public schools. The difference in the proportions of boys and girls enrolled in private school was minimal, whereas difference were more noticeable by race and Hispanic origin. Non-Hispanic White children (13 percent), Asian children (10 percent), and children of Two or more races (9 percent) were most likely to attend private schools in 2000.
At least 15 percent of students in Louisiana, Delaware, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania attended private school, compared with less than 6 percent in Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, and West Virginia.

## In 2000, 34 percent of the young-adult population (aged 18 to 24) attended college.

**Notes:**
In 2000, 34 percent of the young-adult population (aged 18 to 24) attended college, including 37 percent of young-adult women and 31 percent of young-adult men. Even though the number of men was slightly higher than that of women in this age group, the college student body was dominated by women (54 percent compared with 46 percent).

## Slide 22

**Notes:**
College attendance among young adults also differs greatly by race and ethnicity. In 2000, the college enrollment rate was highest for Asians (56 percent). The rate was also above the national average for non-Hispanic Whites (38 percent), and below the national average for Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders (30 percent), Blacks (27 percent), American Indians and Alaska Natives (21 percent), and Hispanics (14 percent).

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