A Retrospective Look at U.S. Education Statistics

This commemorative guide is intended to provide a better understanding of the history and use of federal education statistics that have been collected and reported by the federal education statistics agency (now the National Center for Education Statistics) since 1868. The “statistical profiles” in this report use updated historical trend data from 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait to offer an in-depth look at what each statistic measures, how it has been collected over the years, and what the data reveal about the statistic. Statistics covered in the report include enrollment in elementary and secondary schools; high school graduates and graduation rates, and postsecondary student costs and finances. Readers can browse these profiles online and download PDFs of individual profiles.