According to data collected by the state, Michigan has 601 private schools that enroll about 113,000 students — about 7 percent of all students in the state. All but 14 of Michigan’s 84 counties have at least one private school operating within their boundaries. Despite the fact that private schools in Michigan are widespread, there is very little publicly available information about them. In response to this need, the Mackinac Center, with the help of the Michigan Association of Nonpublic Schools, conducted a survey of private school administrators from all across the state.
The survey obtained unique responses from 334 private schools, just over 50 percent of all private schools in the state. The information provided in this report is based off of this survey, but also includes information from the small amount of data that is collected by the state’s Center for Educational Performance and Information. Below are some selected results:
In addition to providing more detailed data about the results just presented, this report contains information about private schools with regards to their student demographics, geographic locations, religious affiliations, accreditation and use of “shared-time” programs (partnering with public school districts) and dual enrollment, among other things. These survey results should be of interest to policymakers, school administrators, taxpayers and families considering enrolling their children in private schools.