CHAPTER XXXIX.

STATISTICS OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

The school enrollment of the United States is divided into three distinct classes, designated as elementary, secondary, and higher. The elementary includes all pupils in the first eight grades of the common school course, or those pursuing the studies of these eight grades whether in public or private schools. The secondary includes all in the four grades of the high school or academy, or all above the elementary and below the college grades. The higher includes all in college classes proper, in professional courses, and in university courses. The aggregate school enrollment for the year ending June, 1902, was 17,460,000. Of this number 16,479,177 pupils were in the elementary grades of public and private schools; 734,760 were secondary students in public high schools, in private high schools, academies, and seminaries, in the preparatory departments of universities and colleges, and those pursuing nonprofessional courses in public and private normal schools; 246,063 were students of higher education in universities and colleges, professional, and normal schools. This classification will be better understood after an examination of Table II in the Commissioner's statement at the beginning of the first volume of this Annual Report.

The 734,760 secondary students, comprising 4.2 per cent of the entire school enrollment, were distributed among eight classes of institutions as follows:

For the first time in a dozen years there was a small decrease in the number of secondary students from the preceding year, the falling off being mostly due to the decreased attendance in private institutions. The number in public high schools increased from 541,730 in 1900-1901 to 550,611 in 1901-2; the number in public normal schools decreased from 7,153 to 6,295; the number in public universities and colleges decreased from 9,857 to 9,218; the number in private high schools decreased from 108,221 to 104,690; the number in private normal schools decreased from 7,217 to 7,117; the number in private universities and colleges decreased from 44,801 to 41,115; the number in colleges for women increased from 5,614 to 5,705; the number 1641

ED 1902-VOL II- -30

in manual training schools decreased from 11,407 to 10,009. The net decrease in the number of secondary students in the United States was 1,240. The percentage of increase of public secondary students was 1.32 and the percentage of decrease of private secondary students was 4.87. The net percentage of decrease of all secondary students was 0.17. A comparison of the numbers of secondary students for the two years is given by geographical divisions in the table which follows:

Students receiving secondary instruction in public and private high schools and academies and in preparatory departments of colleges and other institutions.

Public. Private. Total. Public. Private. Total. Public. Private. Total.

For ten years ending with 1901 the rate of increase of secondary students had been more rapid than the rate of increase in population. In 1891 the total number of secondary students to the million population was about 5,800, while in 1901 it was 9,500. The rapid increase has been in the attendance in public institutions. In 1891 the enrollment in these was equal to about 3,500 to the million population, while in 1901 and in 1902 it was about 7,200 to the million. The enrollment of secondary students in private institutions has not constantly increased at the rate of increase in the general population. These statements are verified by the following table:

It has been found impracticable to collect complete statistics of secondary students in the preparatory departments of colleges and other institutions. The work of securing information from more than 8,000 public and private high schools presents many difficulties, but upon the whole the results are measurably satisfactory. This chapter is devoted to an exhibition of the statistics of the 6,292 public high schools and the 1,835 private high schools and academies reporting directly to this Bureau for the scholastic year 1901-2. The following table shows the progress of public and private high schools since 1889-90:

In 1889-90 there were 2,526 public high schools, with 202,963 students, reporting to this Bureau. In 1901-2 the number of schools reporting was 6,292, with 550,611 students, an increase of nearly 150 per cent in the number of schools and 171 per cent in the number of students. The number of private high schools increased from 1,632 in 1889-90 to 2,180 in 1894-95. Since that year the number has decreased to 1,835 for the year 1901-2. The fluctuations in attendance at these institutions are shown in the above table. The relative progress of public and private high schools since 1890 may be learned from the following table:

Relative progress of public and private high schools in twelve years.

In 1890 nearly 32 per cent of the secondary students were in private high schools and academies, while in 1902 these private institutions had less than 16 per cent of the secondary students.

PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS.

The list of the 6,292 public high schools, with their statistics in detail, will be found in Table 43 of this chapter, the important items being summarized in Tables 1 to 15.

As shown in Table 1, these schools had 22,415 teachers instructing secondary students-10,958 men and 11,457 women. There was a total of 550,611 secondary students-226,914 boys and 323,697 girls. In elementary grades connected with these schools there were 117,862 pupils.

Table 2 shows that there were 30,797 public high school students preparing for the college classical course, and 27,894 preparing for college scientific courses. The number of graduates for the year ending June, 1903, was 66,262, and 21,018 of these were

reported as college preparatory students. Of the total number of high school students 8,850 were in military drill, a decrease of 782 from the preceding year.

Tables 3 to 11, inclusive, show the number of students in each State in each of the leading high school studies. A synopsis from these tables is given below, preceded by items relating to the number of students preparing for college and the number of graduates.

Students in certain courses and studies in public high schools.

The total number of students preparing for college was 58,691, or 10.06 per cent of the total number of secondary students. The total number of graduates was 66,262, or a little more than 12 per cent of the enrollment for that year. Of these, 21,018, or nearly 32 per cent, had been preparing for college.

The synopsis shows that 275,674, or more than half, of the public high school students were studying Latin; only 13,780 were studying Greek; while 89,486 were studying German, and 47,409 were studying French. The greatest number in any study was 309,164-in algebra. This was more than 56 per cent of the public high school enrollment.

The progress made by public high schools since 1889-90 is indicated in the increased percentage of students in the distinctive high school studies, quite as strongly as in the increased number of schools and rapidly growing enrollment. The studies of the elementary grades have gradually dropped out of the high schools, leaving the secondary studies their full share of time. In 1889-90 only 34.69 per cent of the public high school students studied Latin. Since that time there has been each year a marked increase in the percentage, and for the last four years more than 50 per cent of the students enrolled have studied Latin. As compared with Latin, Greek has not held its own. While the actual number of students in this language has greatly increased, the percentage fell from 3.05 in 1889-90 to 2.50 in 1901-2. There were fluctuations from year to year, as with most of the high school studies, the highest point for Greek having been reached in 1892-93, when the percentage was 3.40. The per cent studying French increased from 5.84 in 1889-90 to 8.61 in 1901-2,

and German shows an increase from 10.51 per cent in 1889-90 to 16.25 the last year. In 1889-90 the per cent of students in algebra was 45.40 and the last year 56.15, the high-water mark having been reached in 1898-99 when the percentage was 57.09. The per cent in geometry was 21.33 in 1889-90 and 27.92 the last year. Physics shows a decrease from 22.21 per cent in 1889-90 to 17.48 in 1901-2. The percentage in chemistry fell from 10.10 to 7.37 in the same period.

The per cent of students in each of the leading high school studies reported annually for the past eleven years is given in the table which follows:

Per cent of total number of secondary students in public high schools in certain courses and studies, etc.

Students and studies. 1891-92 1892-93 1893-94 1894-95 1895-96 1896-97 1897-98 1898-99

Studying

Latin.

38.88 43.06 44.78
3.08 3.40 3.33
5.18 6.42 6.81
10.43 11.92 11.77
48.93 52.88 56.14
23.71 26.00 27.20
2.37 2.73 2.93

56. 13

Astronomy

Physics.

Chemistry.

22.82 23.27 25.29
10.17 10.00 10.31

Physical geography

Geology

Physiology

Psychology

Rhetoric

English literature.

43.97 46.18 48.36 49.67 50.39 50.61 50.45 50.07
3.10 3.11 3.13 3.12 3.12 2.85 2.63 2.50
6.52 6.99 6.86 7.54 7.94
7.78 8.29 8.61
11.40 12.00
12.42 13.25 14.01 14.33 15.45
54.27 54.64 55.46
56.29 56.96 56.15
25.34 26.23 26.71 27.09 27.94 27.39 27.83 27.92
2.53 2.48 2.45
2.27 2.05 1.91 2.04
4.79 4.40 4.21 3.82 3.33 2.78 2.34
22.77 22.08 21.09 20.69 20.20 19.04 18.40
9.15 8.95 8.83 8.30
8.39 7.72 7.56 7.37
23.89 25.54 25.38 24.94 24.29 23.37 22.83 22.57
5.00 4.80 4.62 4.37 4.04 3.61 3.44 3.11
29.95 31.94 30.81 29.98 29.21 27.42
2.74 3.00 2.90 2.74 2.39 2.38
32.05 32.34 34.24 35.97 37.55 38.48
40.07 41.75 42.10

16.25

57.09

History (other than U. S.) Civies

30.97 33.88 36.48

34.33

35.28 35.76 37.70 38.32 38.16 38.91 39.30 22.74 21.97 21.66 20.97 20.15

a Per cent of total number of graduates.

A comparison of the statistics of public high schools in cities of 8,000 population and over with schools outside of such cities, will be found in Tables 12, 13, and 14. In the 580 cities of the size indicated, there were 726 public high schools with 8,930 instructors and 255,708 students. Outside of these cities there were 5,566 public high schools with 13,485 instructors and 294,903 secondary students. In the cities the high schools had an average of 352 students to a school, while the average outside of the cities was 53 students to a school.

In response to an inquiry, 3,161 public high schools reported date of establishment. Of these 1,845 had been established prior to the year 1891, as shown in Table 14. Table 15 shows the equipment and income of the public high schools of each State, so far as the items could be obtained by this Bureau. Of the 6,292 schools, 5,726 reported libraries aggregating 3,710,098 volumes, and 5,447 had grounds, buildings, scientific apparatus, etc., valued at $120,057,606.

No satisfactory aggregate can be obtained or estimated as to the income of public high schools. In most cases the accounts of high schools are not separated from the accounts of public school systems, and for this reason only 1,885 of the 6,292 schools were able to report the amounts of State or municipal funds received. The aggre