A Snapshot of the State of U.S. Education

Hana Ford, 9, left, Marquell Neal, 9, and Alexis Wilder, 9, work on a writing assignment as Dolores Gant checks on their progress at Montgomery Elementary School in Northwest Washington. (By Kevin Clark -- The Washington Post)

· Total expenditures per student increased 23 percent in constant dollars, from $7,847 to $9,630 between the 1995-96 and 2002-03 school years.

· In 2002-03, total per-student expenditures were highest in low-poverty districts ($10,768), next highest in high-poverty districts ($10,191) and lowest in middle-poverty districts ($8,839).

HIGHER EDUCATION

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· From 1972 to 2004, the rate at which high school graduates enrolled in college in the fall immediately after high school increased from 49 to 67 percent.

· The number of bachelor's degrees awarded from academic years 1989-90 through 2003-04 increased by 33 percent; the number of associate's degrees increased by 46 percent.

· In 2004-05, about 62 percent of public and private not-for-profit, two- and four-year institutions offered distance-education courses.

· In 2003-04, the average cost of attendance (including tuition and fees, books and materials and living expenses) for full-time dependent students was:

-- $9,800 at public, two-year institutions

-- $15,100 at public, four-year institutions

-- $29,500 at private, not-for-profit four-year-institutions

-- $18,100 at private, for-profit less-than-four-year institutions

· Although net access price (an estimate of the cash outlay families need to make in a given year to cover educational expenses) increased overall at public, four-year institutions between 1999-2000 and 2003-04, only middle-income students faced statistically significant increases; there was no measurable change for low- and high-income students.

· In 2004, about 51 percent of low-socioeconomic status 12th-graders expected to earn a bachelor's degree or attend graduate school, compared with 65 percent of middle-socioeconomic status and 87 percent of high-socioeconomic seniors. (Socioeconomic status is based on income, occupation and education levels.)