“baby boomlet” of the past 10 years will help boost total enrollment in the nation’s elementary schools by 330,000 students this academic year, according to the U.S. Education Department’s annual “back-to-school” report.
The report projects that enrollment in public and private elementary schools will reach 31.55 million this school year, up from 31.22 million a year ago. The increase reflects the modest upturn in births that began in 1976 and ended in 1983.
Enrollment in public and private secondary schools, meanwhile, is expected to continue declining. The department projects that total highschool enrollment will fall to 13.70 million this year, down from 13.85 million the year before.
The number of students enrolled in the nation’s colleges is expected to fall only slightly from last year’s total of 12.24 million.
The number of students enrolled in the nation’s colleges is expected to fall only slightly from last year’s total of 12.24 million.
The department’s report also included the following projections:
- Total expenditures for all levels of education will reach $278.8 billion this school year, up from $263.4 billion a year ago.
- The average per-pupil expenditure in public elementary and secondary schools will increase to a record $4,263 this year. The average expenditure last year was $4,051 per pupil.
- The average salary for public school teachers will increase from $25,257 last year to$26,650.
