Pennsylvania Education Facts

Updated: February 13, 2013

 
The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center has compiled publicly available data on enrollment in public, private and charter education in the commonwealth as well as information about education funding and school poverty.

Click on the menu links to the left to access education one-pagers, charts and graphs, and links to more detailed data.

An Overview of Education in Pennsylvania:

Public School Enrollment: In 2011-12, Pennsylvania’s public schools enrolled 1,765,327 students in grades Pre-K through 12 across the state’s 500 school districts. 94.1% of students are enrolled in district-run schools and 5.9% attend charter schools.

Private School Enrollment: Enrollment in Pennsylvania’s private and non-public schools remained steady for more than a decade, at around 330,000 students, but began to decline sharply after 2000. Total enrollment in private schools dropped by 30.5% between 1999-00 and 2011-12.

Charter School Growth: Enrollment in public charter schools has been on the rise, growing from 11,413 students in 1999-00 to 105,036 in 2011-12. While much of the growth in charter enrollment comes from students who transfer from other public schools, a portion of the new enrollment may be from students who were previously enrolled in private schools.

Education Funding: State support of public school classrooms is $812 million less in the 2012-13 Fiscal Year than it was in 2010-11, or an average reduction of $459 per student. Updated with 2013-14 proposed budget comparison.

Education in the State Budget: PBPC has archived analyses of the education budget in the last four state budgets and will have an overview of Governor Corbett's education budget proposal after he unveils it on February 5, 2013. Updated with 2013-14 proposed budget details.

Click on the links above to learn more.