Going Back to School

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Do you have a student going back to school this month? The U.S. Census Bureau first collected information on the number of schools and students during the 1840 Census. That year, there were approximately 2 million students attending 50,000 schools. Today, there are more than 47 million students attending the 90,750 elementary and secondary schools in the United States.

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The Census Bureau collects a variety of information on school districts, school enrollment, educational attainment, public school finances, educational services, and other related topics. For example:

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The projected number of high school diplomas that will be awarded in the 2011-12 school year is 3.2 million.

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There were 7.2 million school teachers in the United States in 2009. In 1980, public school teachers earned around $16,000 per year. In 2009, their yearly salaries averaged $53,000.

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In 2009, the per-pupil expenditure on public elementary and secondary education nationally was $10,499.

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In 1850, there were 234 colleges in the United States with an enrollment of 27,159 students. In 2007, there were 4,409 colleges and universities with 18.2 million students.

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For more education-related statistics, see the Census Bureau’s Facts for Features for the 2011-2012 school year.

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For more information on the history of the U.S. Census Bureau, click here.

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