College Student Statistics
Purpose: This page's goal is to help people research the demographics and financial details of private schools compared to public schools. The page will have tables made with Google Sheets to illustrate how the application rates and costs differ between private vs. public schools.
Data Sub-Genre Focus: Comparing Private vs. Public College Student Demographics and Financials
Closer Look
NOTE: Each graph refers to non-public schools in the "No" category, and private schools in the "yes" category.
The median number of applications for private schools is much smaller than the total number of applications for public schools - with 1133 applications for private schools and 4307 for public schools. However, the acceptance rate appears to be much higher for the private schools, with the red dot appearing much closer to the total application number.
The median cost for the private schools’ room and board was around $4400, which is much higher than the median of public schools’, which was around $3700. This could be related to the fact that they get less applicants in general, and thus need to charge more to reach the same profits public schools get. If less people go to the school, less people require housing so the cost must be higher.
The median cost of books is almost exactly the same, being around $500. This makes sense, since they likely use similar materials.
The median personal spending is higher for public schools, being around $1600 for public schools while private schools were around $1000. One reason for this difference is because private schools have higher tuition, students are more careful with personal spending, while the opposite is true for the public schools.
Between private and public schools, the percent of out of state students attending private schools, 62.9%, is higher than the number in public schools, 37.1%. This makes sense with real world context because public schools are required to take a certain number of in-state students, offering them cheaper tuition.
Conclusion
In conclusion, in general, private schools charge higher tuition, despite their lower application rate. However, personal spending is higher in public schools, evening out the total spending a little more. This makes sense, lining up with what I know in real life, since public schools get funding from the state, but private schools rely much more on the students for profit, which is why private schools have a greater ration of out of state students.