How to Read the NCES Private School Universe Survey — Schools, Students, Teachers and Standard Errors
NCES PSS 2023–24 (estimated): 30,553 private schools, 5,096,365 students, 517,780 FTE teachers (Table C-1); pupil/teacher ratio 9.8 (C-12); 2022–23 graduation rate 97.3% (C-13).
Key figures (NCES First Look: 2023–24 Private School Universe Survey)
As of 8 November 2026, 01:01 KST (retrieved by this page at that time); latest listed on the agency page at retrieval: Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results From the 2023–24 Private School Universe Survey (PSS), First Look, NCES 2026-015, by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), dated May 2026. The survey was conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for NCES. Primary source: https://ies.ed.gov/nces/2026/05/characteristics-private-schools-united-states-results-2023-24-private-school-universe-survey[1][2]
| Indicator (U.S. private schools, school year 2023–24; weighted estimates) | Previous: 2021–22 PSS (not given in this report) | Current: 2023–24 PSS | Change vs previous: not calculable from this report | Change vs year ago: not applicable to a biennial survey; this column gives the standard error from Appendix D | Evidence type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private schools (number; Table C-1) | not given | 30,553 | not calculable | SE 276.1 (Table D-1) | NCES First Look, 2023–24 PSS (NCES 2026-015) |
| Students (number; Table C-1) | not given | 5,096,365 | not calculable | SE 36,794.4 (Table D-1) | NCES First Look, 2023–24 PSS (NCES 2026-015) |
| Full-time-equivalent teachers (number; Table C-1) | not given | 517,780 | not calculable | SE 3,824.0 (Table D-1) | NCES First Look, 2023–24 PSS (NCES 2026-015) |
| Teachers, headcount (number; Table C-11) | not given | 567,056 | not calculable | SE 3,956.9 (Table D-11) | NCES First Look, 2023–24 PSS (NCES 2026-015) |
| Pupil/teacher ratio (students per FTE teacher; Table C-12) | not given | 9.8 | not calculable | SE 0.02 (Table D-12) | NCES First Look, 2023–24 PSS (NCES 2026-015) |
| Graduation rate, 2022–23 (%; Table C-13) | not given | 97.3 | not calculable | SE 0.04 (Table D-13) | NCES First Look, 2023–24 PSS (NCES 2026-015) |
Comparison basis: counts are weighted estimates printed to the single school, student or teacher (not rounded to thousands); the standard errors come from Appendix D. Percentages are rounded by NCES to one decimal. This First Look does not compare 2023–24 with earlier survey rounds, so no change column can be filled from it.[1]
In three lines
1. The biennial PSS counts private schools, students and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia and serves as NCES's private-school sampling frame.
2. In 2023–24 there were an estimated 30,553 private schools with 5,096,365 students and 517,780 full-time-equivalent teachers (Table C-1).
3. About 67% of the schools had a religious orientation or purpose, and the 2022–23 graduation rate was 97.3% (Table C-13).[1]
What the survey measures
Design and scope. "PSS is designed to generate biennial data on the total number of private schools, students, and teachers and to build a universe of private schools to serve as a sampling frame of private schools for NCES sample surveys." A private school is one not supported primarily by public funds that gives classroom instruction for at least one of grades K–12 and has at least one teacher. "Organizations or institutions that provide support for home schooling, but do not provide classroom instruction, are not included." "All data are for the 2023–24 school year except the high school graduate data, which are for the 2022–23 school year."[1]
List and area frames. The 2023–24 list frame held 56,675 schools, and an area search of 124 primary sampling units added 590 schools. "For PSS, only the area frame contributes to the standard error." That is why standard errors are zero for estimates made only of list-frame and certainty area-frame schools.[1]
Response and weighting. "For the 2023–24 PSS, the unweighted unit response rate was 77 percent, while the weighted response rate was 76 percent (table B-1)." Table B-1 prints 76.8 (unweighted) and 76.0 (base-weighted); the text's 77 and 76 are those values rounded to whole percents. "Results are weighted to reflect the sampling and survey nonresponse." Because the base-weighted rate was below 85 percent, NCES ran a nonresponse bias analysis; the mean absolute relative bias fell from 13.91 to 2.05 percent after adjustment.[1]
Standard errors checked. This page read all 22 standard-error tables (D-1 to D-22). The errors cited here match them: 276.1 schools, 36,794.4 students and 3,824.0 FTE teachers (Table D-1, repeated in D-2 and D-15; D-17 prints the student figure as 36794.4), 3,956.9 teachers by headcount (Table D-11, repeated in D-14), 0.02 for the pupil/teacher ratio (Table D-12) and 0.04 for the graduation rate (Table D-13). Many cells are 0 because standard errors are zero when an estimate comprises only list-frame and certainty area-frame schools. In Table D-14 the rows for the Association of Christian Teachers and Schools and the Association of Classical and Christian Schools print identical values (4.4, 2,126.5 and 78.9), as printed.[1]
Symbols. An exclamation mark means interpret data with caution (coefficient of variation between 30 and 50 percent); a double dagger means reporting standards were not met (fewer than 15 sample cases or a coefficient of variation of 50 percent or more); a single dagger means not applicable; and # means the value rounds to zero. These are different from a zero.[1]
Reading in pairs
School level: two definitions in one report. The table notes say: "Secondary/high schools are defined as schools that enroll students in more of grades 9 through 12 than in lower grades." The glossary in Appendix A instead classifies schools by the grades they offer, counting grades 9–11 (for example, a secondary/high school offers more or the same grades in 9–11 compared to grades in 5–8). Both texts are reported here as printed; the report does not say which wording the estimates follow. NCES also warns: "School level categories in the 2023–24 PSS differ from those in previous survey administrations; caution should be exercised when comparing estimates by level over time."[1]
Totals vs parts. Schools by level: 17,598 + 3,677 + 9,279 = 30,554, against a printed total of 30,553. Students by level: 1,988,438 + 926,754 + 2,181,173 = 5,096,365. FTE teachers by level: 199,233 + 88,835 + 229,712 = 517,780 (Table C-1; this page's calculations); NCES notes that detail may not sum to totals due to rounding of weighted estimates.[1]
FTE teachers vs headcount. The report counts 517,780 full-time-equivalent teachers and 567,056 teachers by headcount; FTE weights part-time teachers by work status (1.000 for full time down to .125 for less than a quarter time). "The pupil-to-teacher ratio in 2023–24 was 9.8 across private schools." That ratio uses FTE teachers.[1]
Agency rankings and small cells. "In 2023–24, Nebraska had the highest percentage of private schools with library media centers at 96 percent (table C-22)." That ranking is NCES's statement. In Table C-22, Montana's and South Dakota's counts carry the caution mark. In Table C-20, the vocational/technical row prints 22 of 33 schools as 66.2 percent, while 22 divided by 33 gives 66.7 (this page's calculation); one possible explanation consistent with the table is that the percent was computed from weighted counts before they were rounded.[1]
Descriptive only. "These findings are purely descriptive in nature and are not meant to imply causality." "Adjustments were not made to the significance tests for multiple comparisons."[1]
Edition, dates and next survey
Dates. The report and its resource-library page give May 2026 as the publication date. The PDF's file properties show creation on May 1, 2026 and a last modification on May 5, 2026; the report does not state a revision. Its cover title says Universe Survey, while the inner title page prints Universe Study, as printed.[1][2]
How the report was reached. The resource-library page's PDF reference carries the file name of an earlier report (2021061). This page used the PDF served at the IES announcement address on that same page, whose cover reads NCES 2026-015.[2]
Next survey. The PSS is collected every two years; the release date for results from a later round is not established by these sources.[1][2]
Verified facts
Each fact is labelled with its evidence typeEach fact in this section carries its evidence type — either cross-checked against independent sources, or confirmed from a single authoritative record.
NCES estimated 30,553 U.S. private schools with 5,096,365 students in school year 2023–24 (Table C-1).[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Private schools had 517,780 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2023–24 (Table C-1), and the pupil-to-teacher ratio was 9.8 (Table C-12).[1] 1 source · authoritative record
The 2022–23 graduation rate of private-school 12th-graders was 97.3%, and 61.6% of graduates attended 4-year colleges by fall 2023 (Table C-13).[1] 1 source · authoritative record
The 2023–24 PSS had an unweighted unit response rate of 76.8% and a base-weighted rate of 76.0% (Table B-1).[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Statements and readings
Not counted as facts — each item shows what kind of statement it isFrom here on: statements not counted as facts — single-source reports, the issuing body’s own statements, and this page’s own readings, each labeled.
The report defines school level in two different ways (grades enrolled through grade 12 in the table notes, grades offered through grade 11 in the glossary), so which rule the level estimates follow is not established by the report.[1] Stated by the issuing body itself (primary source) · not independently verified · inference from comparing the PSS table notes with the Appendix A glossary
Schools by level sum to 30,554 against the printed total of 30,553, a difference of one school consistent with rounding of weighted estimates to whole schools.[1] Stated by the issuing body itself (primary source) · not independently verified · inference from this page's sums of the Table C-1 rows
For vocational/technical schools, the printed counts give 66.7% against the printed 66.2%, consistent with percentages computed from weighted counts before they were rounded to whole schools.[1] Stated by the issuing body itself (primary source) · not independently verified · inference from this page's division of the Table C-20 counts
Timeline
- 2023-09-12
Data collection for the 2023–24 PSS begins with a mailout to private schools; it continues until June 2024.[1]
What this page could not establish
These are questions this page tried to answer and could not. The gaps are left open rather than filled with a guess.- Which school-level definition do the estimates follow?
- When will results from the next PSS round be released?
- Model
- claude-opus-5
- Time
- 11/08/2026, 00:58
- Body characters
- 7,962
- Sources
- 2 sources adopted
- Model
- ChatGPT (checked sources on the web)
- Time
- 11/08/2026, 01:17
- Verdict
- Revision required
Show revision history (3)
| 11/08/2026, 09:00 | First authored (claude-opus-5) | Created |
| 11/08/2026 | First version. Read in full the NCES First Look on the 2023–24 Private School Universe Survey and its resource-library page; quotations are complete sentences matched against the source text. | Updated |
| 11/08/2026 | Revised after review: all 22 standard-error tables were read and each cited standard error is given with its table number (D-1, D-11, D-12, D-13); the summary, key table and facts name the source table of each figure; the addition formulas for schools, students and FTE teachers by level are shown; the 66.2 percent case is placed in Table C-20 with the explanation given as a possibility; the source note gives the page count and how the PDF was reached; the edition line reads latest listed on the agency page at retrieval. | Updated |
Frequently asked
How many private schools were there in the U.S. in 2023–24?
An estimated 30,553 private schools (standard error 276.1), with 5,096,365 students, per the NCES PSS.[1]
What share of private schools are religious?
66.7% of schools (20,385), enrolling 75.8% of private-school students, had a religious orientation or purpose in 2023–24.[1]
How many teachers work in private schools?
517,780 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 567,056 by headcount, in 2023–24.[1]
What was the private-school graduation rate?
97.3% for 2022–23: graduates divided by 12th-graders enrolled around October 1, 2022.[1]
Can these figures be compared with earlier PSS rounds?
Not directly by school level: NCES says 2023–24 school level categories differ from previous rounds, and this First Look makes no comparisons over time.[1]
Official links
Sources
- [1] Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results From the 2023–24 Private School Universe Survey, First Look (NCES 2026-015), PDF primary
- [2] Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results From the 2023–24 Private School Universe Survey (NCES resource library page) primary