Education in the United States
Education in the United States of
America
Educational
oversight
Secretary
Deputy
Secretary
U.S. Department of Edu-
cation
Arne Duncan
National edu-
cation budget
$972 billion (public and
private, all levels)[1]
(2007)
Primary lan-
guage(s)
English
Federal, state,
private sys-
tem
Established
Activated
Literacy ()
• Men
• Women
%
99[2]%
99[2]%
Enrollment
• Primary
• Secondary
• Post-
secondary
76.6 million
37.9 million1
16.5 million
17.5 million 2
Attainment
• Secondary
diploma
• Post-second-
ary diploma
85%
27%
1 Includes kindergarten
2 Includes graduate school
Education in the United States is provided
mainly by government, with control and fund-
ing coming from three levels: federal, state,
and local. School attendance is mandatory
and nearly universal at the primary and
secondary levels (known inside the United
States as the elementary and high school
levels). At these levels, school curricula,
funding, teaching, and other policies are set
through locally elected school boards with
jurisdiction over school districts. School dis-
tricts are usually separate from other local
jurisdictions, with independent officials and
budgets. Educational standards and stand-
ardized testing decisions are usually made by
state governments.
The ages for compulsory education vary
by state, beginning at ages five to eight and
ending at the ages of fourteen to eighteen.[3]
A growing number of states are now requir-
ing school attendance until the age of 18.
Compulsory education requirements can
generally be satisfied by attending public
schools, state-certified private schools, or an
approved home school program. In most pub-
lic and private schools, education is divided
into three levels: elementary school, junior
high school (often called middle school), and
high school. In almost all schools at these
levels, children are divided by age groups in-
to grades, ranging from kindergarten (fol-
lowed by first grade) for the youngest chil-
dren in elementary school, up to twelfth
grade, which is the fina