The Census Bureau provides information on a variety of educational topics, from educational attainment and school enrollment, to school costs and financing. We collect information from individuals regarding their school experiences, and directly from schools or the government agencies that help manage them. The Census Bureau is also helping educate the public about our census and survey programs and providing materials to educators who teach statistics. 

Educational Attainment - refers to the highest level of education that an individual has completed. This is distinct from the level of schooling that an individual is attending.

School Enrollment – refers to data on enrollment for elementary and high school, college, or professional school. Also includes public, private and those who are homeschooled.

Public School System Finances – includes data on revenues, expenditures, debt, and assets [cash and security holdings] of elementary and secondary public school systems. Statistics cover school systems in all states and include the District of Columbia.

The Census Bureau has data available for school districts. School districts are public school systems that provide regular, special, and/or vocational education services for children in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Public school systems in the United States are locally administrated and their geographic structure varies by state and region. The U.S. has more than 14,000 public school districts and spends more than $500 billion each year (combined spending of federal, state, and local governments).This data is available from the American Community Survey. We collect and disseminate data for the National Center for Education Statistics.

To boost students’ civic and statistical literacy, the Census Bureau’s Statistics in Schools (SIS) program offers free resources for the K-12 classroom. These resources make census data student friendly and include standards-based activities, quick warm up challenges, Fun Facts, Kahoot! games and more.

Educational Services – the Educational Services sector (NAICS: 61) comprises establishments that provide instruction and training in a wide variety of subjects by specialized establishments, such as schools, colleges, universities, and training centers. These establishments may be privately owned and operated for profit or not for profit, or they may be publicly owned and operated. They may also offer food and/or accommodation services to their students.

Education data can be accessed through data.census.gov or Census Survey Explorer for a list of programs and surveys that have education data. Data for education related topics can be found in our more popular surveys such as the American Community Survey, Current Population Survey and the Economic Census.