Obama Announces Pledges of $750 Million for Student  Learning Technology. That’s stretched over as many as five years, AFAIK… hard to say in a country this big with as many students as we have, how much that will help the “digital divide”.

But there’s also this:

 The news comes a day after the Federal Communications Commission announced that it would double its funding to provide and improve high-speed wireless Internet to schools and libraries over the next two years. The additional investment of $2 billion is expected to help 20 million students in at least 15,000 schools.

Fewer than 30 percent of schools are equipped with the broadband connectivity needed to stream video and use other educational tools available on the Internet, Cecilia Muñoz, the director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, told reporters in a conference call on Monday.

Also begs the question how much it would cost to fully support initiatives to bring best learning tech to all kids.

K-12

In 2010–11, there were about 13,600 public school districts (source) with over 98,800 public schools, including about 5,300 charter schools(source). In 2011–12, there were about 30,900 private schools offering kindergarten or higher grades (source).

In fall 2013, about 50.1 million students will attend public elementary and secondary schools. Of these, 35.3 million will be in prekindergarten through 8th grade and 14.8 million will be in grades 9 through 12. An additional 5.2 million students are expected to attend private schools(source).

About 1.3 million children are expected to attend public prekindergarten this fall. Enrollment in public kindergarten is projected to reach approximately 3.8 million students (source).

This fall, about 4.1 million public school students are expected to enroll in 9th grade—the typical entry grade for many American high schools(source).

Higher Ed

In fall 2013, a record 21.8 million students are expected to attend American colleges and universities, constituting an increase of about 6.5 million since fall 2000 (source).

Females are expected to account for the majority of college students: about 12.5 million females will attend in fall 2013, compared with 9.3 million males. Also, more students are expected to attend full time than part time (an estimated 13.4 million, compared with about 8.3 million, respectively) (source).

Nearly 7.5 million students will attend public 2-year institutions (source), and 0.5 million will attend private 2-year colleges (source). Some 8.2 million students are expected to attend public 4-year institutions (source), and about 5.6 million will attend private 4-year institutions (source).

Increases in the traditional college-age population and rising enrollment rates have contributed to the increase in college enrollment. Between 2000 and 2011, the 18- to 24-year-old population rose from approximately 27.3 million to approximately 31.1 million (source). The percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college also was higher in 2011 (42.0 percent) than in 2000 (35.5 percent) (source).

This fall, these traditional college-age students will be joined by around 8.7 million older students ages 25 and over. The number of older students increased between 2000 and 2011 (source).

Increasing numbers and percentages of Black and Hispanic students are attending college. Between 2000 and 2011, the percentage of college students who were Black rose from 11.7 to 15.1 percent, and the percentage of students who were Hispanic rose from 9.9 to 14.3 percent (source). Also, the percentage of Black 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college increased from 30.5 percent in 2000 to 37.1 percent in 2011 and the percentage of Hispanics enrolled increased from 21.7 to 34.8 percent (source).