Report of the Commissioner of Education Made to the Secretary of the Interior for the Year ... with Accompanying Papers

DIAGRAM 2.-PART II.-Number of students preparing for college and proportion to whole number of students in the schools.

It is interesting to note that in the public high schools over 12 per cent of the total number of students are preparing for college and that the numbers are almost evenly divided between the two courses in the country, taken as a whole. In the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and South Central Divisions the greater number is in the classical course, the South Central Division having the greatest ratio, while in the North Central and Western Divisions the scientific course predominates, especially in the last, which has nearly three times as many in the scientific as in the clas-. sical course.

In the private academies it is found that in the country, as a whole, of over 21 per cent preparing for college almost two-thirds of them are in the classical course, and in every division the greater number take this course, the highest ratio, over 17 per cent, being in the South Atlantic Division; the lowest, 8.26 per cent, being in the North Central Division. In the scientific course the greatest proportion is in the North Atlantic Division, 9.15 per cent, and the lowest in the South Atlantic Division, 4.09 per cent.

Of the 20,907 students preparing for college, both courses, in private institutions, 8,869, or about 42.5 per cent, are found in the North Atlantic Division alone, while of the 25,058 students preparing for college in the public high schools, 12,002, or 48 per cent, are in the North Central Division-that is, the North Atlantic States have

the largest percentage of preparatory students in the private schools and the Northwestern State the largest percentage in the public high schools.

GRADUATES.

Another subject of interest is the number and proportion of graduates from secondary schools. The following diagram (3) shows this for both classes of schools and the percentage of each to the other:

DIAGRAM 3.-Number of graduates in 1891, with proportion in each class of schools, by geographical divisions.

From this it appears that of the 32,567 graduates in 1891, from both the public high schools and private academies, 25,459, or over 78 per cent, came from the public schools, and only about 22 per cent from the private institutions. Of the graduates from the public schools, the North Central Division furnished 12,933, or over one-half, and of those from the private schools the North Atlantic Division had 3,458, or nearly one-half of all from that class of schools. The question of the proportion of students who complete the course of study in secondary schools is so important that statistics as to the number have been collected, and in addition to the tables diagram 4 has been prepared.

DIAGRAM 4.-Proportion of graduates to total number of students in each class of

schools.

This diagram shows that in the United States the public high schools graduated 12 per cent. of all the students in attendance during the year, and the private academies 7.22 per cent. In the public schools the Southern Atlantic Division had 13.23 per cent, the highest ratio, while the South Central Division had the lowest, or 9.37 per cent. of graduates. In the private schools, the greatest ratio was in the North Atlantic Division, 9.57 per cent of the total number, while the smallest proportion is found in the South Central Division, 4.28 per cent. Of course these figures do not always give the exact statement of the relative standards of the schools because the conditions and requirements for graduation both as to length of time and amount of study vary greatly in the different portions of the country as well as in the different schools. These statistics, however, may, with other data, aid in finding the comparative growth of the institutions as to numbers and scholarship, especially when the questions of courses of study are taken into consideration.

STUDIES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

As already stated, the plan of collecting data relating to the principal studies pursued in the schools has been continued and tables of summaries made. Table 11 following gives the number of students pursuing the studies named in the public high schools:

State or Territory.

TABLE III.—Summary of the number of students in each branch of study in public high schools.