Trivia - Back to School: The Numbers

ArcaMax Publishing > Knowledge > Trivia

Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.

Vocabulary Hangman:

Try our FREE ArcaMax Vocabulary Hangman Game

The Funnies:

Get free jokes, comics, and more! See them all on
our funnies page

Books:

Read the classics online or by email. More details on the books page

Back to School: The Numbers

U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov)

Through August and early September, the nation's schools reopen following the traditional summer break. This edition of Facts for Features celebrates students' and teachers' return to school.

Students

73.2 million
The number of U.S. residents enrolled in schools -- from nursery schools to colleges. About 1-in-4 residents age 3 and over is a student.

53.4 million
The number of students projected to be enrolled in the nation's elementary and high schools (grades K-12) this fall. That number exceeds the total in 1969 (51.6 million) when the last of the "baby boom" children expanded school enrollments.

10
Percentage of all students who are enrolled in private elementary or private high schools.

52
Percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds who are enrolled in preschool or kindergarten, up from 21 percent in 1970.

6-in-10
The ratio of kindergarten-age children enrolled in all-day kindergarten, up from 1-in-10 in 1970.

20
Percentage of elementary and high school students who have at least one foreign-born parent.

26
Percentage of high school students ages 15 to 17 who are holding down a full- or part-time job.

850,000
Number of students who are home-schooled. That is 2 percent of all students ages 5 to 17.

9.8 million
The number of school-age children (5 to 17) who speak a language other than English at home. They make up nearly 1-in-5 children in this age group. Most of these children (6.8 million) speak Spanish at home.

72
Percentage of children 12-to-17 years old who are academically on track for their age. The rate is higher for girls than for boys (79 percent versus 69 percent).

22
Percentage of children 12 to 17 who either are enrolled in a special class for gifted students or do advanced work in any subject. The corresponding rate for those ages 6 to 11 is 13 percent.

59
Percentage of children 6 to 17 who participate in at least one of three extracurricular activities, sports, clubs or lessons.

8.2 million
Number of students 25 and over enrolled in college. Students 25 and over account for about half of all college students.

56
Percentage of college students who are women. Women have held the majority status in college enrollment since 1979.

2.4 million
The projected number of college degrees that will be conferred during this academic year.

Teachers

6.5 million
The number of practicing teachers in the United States -- from prekindergarten to college.

$53,300
Average annual salary paid to public school teachers in New Jersey -- highest of any state in the nation. Teachers in South Dakota received the lowest -- $30,300. The national average was $43,300.

Technology in the Schools

13.6 million
Number of computers available for classroom use in the nation's 111,000 elementary and secondary schools; that comes down to 1 computer for every 4 students.

98
Percentage of public schools with Internet access. As recently as 1995, the proportion was 50 percent. For every teaching computer connected to the Internet, there were seven students.

4-in-5
Ration of children ages 6 to 17 that use a computer at school (2-in-3 have access to a computer at home).

The Rising Cost of College

$9,326
Average tuition, room and board (for in-state students) at the nation's four-year public colleges and universities for an entire academic year; that is up 75 percent from 1990.

$27,711
Average tuition, room and board at the nation's four-year private colleges and universities for an entire academic year; that is up 84 percent from 1990.

The Rewards of Staying in School

$4.4 million
The estimated lifetime earnings of professional (i.e., medical, law, dentistry and veterinary medicine) degree-holders. This compares with $3.4 million for those with Ph.D.s, $2.5 million for master's degree-holders, $2.1 million for those with bachelor's degrees, $1.2 million for high school graduates and $1.0 million for high school dropouts.

$54,761
Average starting salary offer to bachelor's degree candidates in petroleum engineering, among the highest of any field of study. At the other end of the spectrum were those majoring in the humanities; they were offered an average of $30,653.

Graduation

84
Percentage of the nation's adults 25 and over with at least a high school diploma.

27
Percentage of the nation's adults 25 and over who have at least a bachelor's degree.

Government Spending on Education in 2001

$10,922
The per-pupil expenditure on elementary and secondary education in nation-leading New York. New Jersey, at $10,893, and the District of Columbia, at $10,852, also spent more than $10,000 per pupil.

$201 billion
State governments contributed the greatest amount of public elementary and secondary school funding.

$173 billion
Local governments followed with $173 billion and the federal government was the third largest contributor at $29 billion.

$410.6 billion
Amount spent by Public school systems, up $30.1 billion from 2000. About $212.7 billion was spent on instruction, $118.7 billion on services that support instruction, $48.9 billion on capital projects and $30.2 billion on other noninstructional items.

$36.0 billion
Invested by school districts in school construction, up 13.3 percent from 2000.

Back-to-School Shopping

$5.4 billion
The amount of money spent at family clothing stores in August 2002. Only October, November and December -- the holiday shopping season -- also sales showed last year greater than $5 billion. Similarly, bookstore sales in August 2002 totaled $1.8 billion, an amount not surpassed by any month except January and December. (The dollar volume estimates have not been adjusted for seasonal variations, holiday or trading day differences or price changes.)

Schools

1,010
The number of public charter schools nationwide. These schools, granted a charter exempting them from selected state and local rules and regulations, enrolled 267,000 students.

92,012
Number of public elementary and secondary schools that children will report to on the first day of school this year. The corresponding number of private elementary and secondary schools is 27,223.

4,084
Number of institutions of higher learning that grant college degrees.

40
Percentage of children ages 12 to 17 who have changed schools at some time in their educational careers. For children ages 6 to 11, the corresponding rate is 23 percent. This does not include the normal progression and graduation from elementary and middle schools.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

This news arrived on: 08/10/2005

Share this Story