Evangelical Christian Schools See Growth

The 1990s saw significant shifts in religious-school attendance patterns, as enrollment in schools operated by evangelical Christians rose, while enrollment at Roman Catholic schools declined, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Education.

Children in Catholic schools still make up nearly half of all private school students, though their share of that sector fell to 47.1 percent in the 2001-02 school year from 53 percent in 1991-92. During that period, the share of private school enrollment for schools considered conservative or evangelical Christian increased from 12 percent to 15.4 percent, or to 823,000 students.

But a poor economy in recent years and the rising costs of running private schools have slowed the start-up of religious schools since the 1990s, some leaders of...