GENERAL STATISTICAL EXHIBIT OF EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THE YEAR 1888-89.

A.-GRAND TOTAL OF PUPILS.

[See Table 1, pp. 5, 6.]

The educational system of the United States enrolled 13,726,574 pupils of all grades' during the school year 1888-89, or an average of about 22 to each 100 persons of the population.

Of these, 12,325,411, or 89.8 per cent., were enrolled in schools and institutions under public management, and 1,401,163, or 10.2 per cent., in schools and institutions under private management.

As regards grade, 12,931,259, or 94.2 per cent., were receiving elementary instruction; 668,461, or 4.9 per cent., secondary instruction, and 126,854, or 0.9 per cent., superior instruction. Elementary instruc tion will be understood to include what are commonly known as the "primary" and "grammar" grades, and secondary instruction the "high school" grade, of both public and private schools.

The actual average number of pupils in each grade for each 100 persons of the population, classified as public and private, also geograph ically, is as follows:

Number of pupils to each 100 of the population.

NOTE-The classification of States male use of in the foregoing table is the same as that adopted for the United States Census, and is as follows:

North Atlantic Division: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

South Atlantic Division: Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

South Central Division: Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas.

North Central Division: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Sonth Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas,

Western Division: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and California.

Excluding evening schools, art, manual and industrial training, trades, and business schools, schools for the defective, dependent, and delinquent classes, and Indian schools. These collectively enroll a considerable number of pupils.

ED 89-1

1

Elementary instruction.-As regards elementary instruction, it will be seen from the above that in the public schools the North Central States have the greatest number of pupils as compared with the total number of people (21.88 per 100), and the North Atlantic States and Territories the least (16.66 per 100).

The South Atlantic and South Central States surpass the North Atlantic in the proportion of population enrolled in elementary public schools (19.01 and 19.49 against 16.16); but the reverse is the case as regards the proportion of school population enrolled; it is important to keep in mind this distinction, which is more fully referred to elsewhere. In elementary private schools the North Atlantic States are far in the lead (2.54 pupils per 100 of population); the Northern States surpass the Southern generally in this particular, and the Eastern States surpass the Western of the same latitude. In other words, private elementary schools are most prevalent in the longer settled, the more densely populated, and, it may be said, the more educationally advanced sections.

Taking the elementary pupils all together, public and private, the Western Division has the fewest in proportion to the total population (18.13 per 100). This does not necessarily imply that there has been less progress in education there, since that division has by far the smallest proportion of children in its population. That portion of the country has been in great part only recently settled, and adults still form an undue proportion of the population. In the North Central States a profusion of children, of material resources, and of educational enterprise, are found co-existing, with the result that those States make by far the best showing as regards elementary schools, enrolling 23.95 pupils per 100 of population.

Secondary instruction. In public high schools the North Atlantic States have by far the greatest enrollment (1.14 pupils per 100 of population); the North Central States are credited with .66 per 100; and the Western States with only .25 per 100 (25 per 10,000), or about onefifth of what the North Atlantic States have.

This may seem surprising, but it is in accordance with the reports to this Office. The last Report of the Commissioner of Education (1887S8), p. 73, gives for that year in the North Atlantic States 6.4 per cent. of the common school enrollment as enrolled in high schools; in the North Central States, 2.9 per cent.; and in the Western States only 1.5 per cent.

While the Western Division is in the lowest position as regards public high schools, it is in the highest as regards private secondary schools. This may be ascribed to the numerous schools established in the Territories by the different religious denominations. As regards the remaining States, the Eastern (North and South) stand above the Western (.35 and .36 per 100, against .31 and .22).

Superior instruction.-The classification of institutions for superior instruction into public and private is not altogether feasible. In point of fact, some of the institutions classed as public in compiling this summary are not public in the sense that the common schools are, though the majority of them make an approach to being so.

Taking superior instruction of both classes together, and including normal schools, it may be seen from the table that, compared with the population, there are more higher-grade students in the North than in the South, and in the East than in the West of the same latitude. The North Atlantic States lead with 25 students per 10,000 of population. The South Central States have the smallest proportion, 16 students per 10,000, or about two-thirds the number of the former group.

It may be said that 1 in 5 of the whole population of the United States is under elementary instruction, 1 in 100 under secondary instruction, and 1 in 500 under superior instruction.

Relative number of pupils in each grade.-Leaving the absolute values and considering only the relative number of pupils in each grade, it appears that 94 per cent. of all pupils are in the elementary grade, 5 per cent. in the secondary grade, and 1 per cent. in the superior. The details are as follows:

Public and private schools.-The proportion of instruction furnished at the public expense becomes less, the higher the grade. In the elementary grade, 91 per cent. of the pupils are in public schools, and only 9 per cent. in private; in the secondary grade 72 per cent. are in public schools, and 28 per cent. in private; in the superior grades only 27 per cent. are found in public schools, while 73 per cent. appear in private schools. Leaving out normal schools, the proportion of public students in the superior grades would be still less.

The following table exhibits the relative number of public and private school pupils in the different grades and geographical sections. As just intimated, the normal school attendance, which is mostly public, affects the percentage of superior instruction considerably, especially in the North Atlantic States.

Public. Private Pablic. Private. Public. | Private. Public. Private.

Superior.

Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent.

The total amount expended for educational purposes, public and pri vate, in 1888-89, was $171,739,317, or an average of $2.82 per capita of population.

Of this amount, $135,737,600, or $2.23 per capita, were expended upon elementary schools; $19,258,491, or 32 cents per capita, upon secondary schools; and $16,743,226, or 27 cents per capita, upon superior institutions of learning.

The following table gives a detailed classification of the per capita expenditure. The expenditure for higher grade institutions includes the amount expended for the preparatory or academic departments. It will be observed that there is a much greater contrast between the North and South as regards expenditure than there was in the case of pupils, owing to the expenditure per pupil being much less in the South.

The United States....... $200 $0.23 $0.17 $0.15 $0.07 $0 20 $2.23 $0.32 $0.27 $2.24 $0.58

North Atlantic Division. 2.28

82

10

2.65 1.07 3.72 21 1.03 .34 1.89

08

.15 1.00

28 1.28

16

06

3.25

09

23

All grades.

Superior instruction.-The classification of institutions for superior instruction into public and private is not altogether feasible. In point of fact, some of the institutions classed as public in compiling this summary are not public in the sense that the common schools are, though the majority of them make an approach to being so.

Taking superior instruction of both classes together, and including normal schools, it may be seen from the table that, compared with the population, there are more higher-grade students in the North than in the South, and in the East than in the West of the same latitude. The North Atlantic States lead with 25 students per 10,000 of population. The South Central States have the smallest proportion, 16 students. per 10,000, or about two-thirds the number of the former group.

It may be said that 1 in 5 of the whole population of the United States is under elementary instruction, 1 in 100 under secondary instruction, and 1 in 500 under superior instruction.

Relative number of pupils in each grade.-Leaving the absolute values and considering only the relative number of pupils in each grade, it appears that 94 per cent. of all pupils are in the elementary grade, 5 per cent. in the secondary grade, and 1 per cent. in the superior. The details are as follows:

Public and private schools.-The proportion of instruction furnished at the public expense becomes less, the higher the grade. In the elementary grade, 91 per cent. of the pupils are in public schools, and only 9 per cent. in private; in the secondary grade 72 per cent. are in public schools, and 28 per cent. in private; in the superior grades only 27 per cent. are found in public schools, while 73 per cent. appear in private schools. Leaving out normal schools, the proportion of public students in the superior grades would be still less.

The following table exhibits the relative number of public and private school pupils in the different grades and geographical sections. As just intimated, the normal school attendance, which is mostly public, affects the percentage of superior instruction considerably, especially in the North Atlantic States.