Explaining Ethnic, Racial, and Immigrant Differences in Private School Attendance By

Using 1990 Census microdata, we explore ethnic, racial and immigrant differences in private school attendance. We find high rates of private school attendance among white natives, white immigrants, and Asian natives. In contrast, we find low private school rates among black and Hispanic natives and immigrants, Asian immigrants, and other natives. Variations in income per capita and especially parental education account for over 70% of the gap in private school attendance rates between white natives and all other groups. We discuss ramifications for racial, language, and socioeconomic segregation in America's schools, and possible effects of school vouchers on segregation. JEL Codes: I21 (Analysis of education), J15 (Economics of minorities) Julian R. Betts Robert W. Fairlie Department of Economics Department of Economics University of California University of California San Diego, CA Santa Cruz, CA 95064 858-534-3369 (831) 459-3332 Public Policy Institute of California [email protected] San Francisco, CA http://econ.ucsc.edu/~fairlie [email protected] [email protected] http://weber.ucsd.edu/~jbetts