During the COVID-19 pandemic, many private schools offered in-person classes

In recent years, many private schools have seen enrollment increase

The pandemic realigned schools’ demographics, with steady enrollment increases reported since 2020. In school years 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 20225, 40% of private schools saw enrollments increase, though the overall trend appears to be slowing.

Private schools are generally smaller than public schools

As of 2021, 44% of private schools enrolled fewer than 300 students. By comparison, over 60% of public schools enroll more than 500 students.

Approximately 10% of American K-12 students are enrolled in private schools

Around 75% of those students attend religiously affiliated institutions. In Hawaii and Washington, DC, 19% of students attend private schools, the highest enrollment percentages in the country.

Homeschooling doubled during the Coronavirus pandemic

After explosive growth, the trend continued. During the 2024-2025 school year, it increased at an average rate of 4.9%, nearly three times the pre-pandemic rate of around 2%.

Americans are divided over Christian prayer in public schools

A 2024 Pew survey found that over half (52%) of US adults favor allowing teachers in the public school system to lead their classes in prayers that mention Jesus, though results vary widely by state.

Private education offered an alternative for Black Americans

The early public school system was ostensibly designed for all Americans, but it was also racially segregated, offering substandard schools for Black Americans. Some private schools were founded to combat that problem, including St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, the United States' oldest predominantly Black Catholic high school.

Private schools are free to experiment with teaching styles

Because they’re not beholden to national curricula, private school teachers can use different pedagogical approaches, like Harkness, which was developed at New Hampshire’s Phillips Exeter Academy. The method brings students to a large round oval table and encourages them to lead the lesson through inquiry.

In 2020 digital coupons accounted for 29.3% of all coupon redemptions

That’s compared to 28% for physical coupons, representing the year the balance of power shifted in digital’s favor. The COVID-19 pandemic era’s lockdowns increased online shopping, which accelerated digital coupon adoption.

Driver education was largely removed from public schools in the 1990s

Maintaining fleets of cars proved too expensive for many school districts, relegating driver education to private classes taken outside of school.

The share of workers with remote-capable jobs working from home peaked in 2020

Every year, it seems like some study is claiming that remote work is over, and that employers are forcing workers to return to office en masse. This chart shows a much more nuanced picture of how remote work has fluctuated before, during, and after the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic—remote, hybrid, and in-person work levels have remained relatively stable since 2023.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a decrease in immunizations in the US and worldwide

Public health funds and resources that were diverted to COVID-19 response reduced efforts to combat polio and vaccinations for polio and other diseases declined during the pandemic, putting more people at risk for polio.

9 states still offer prepaid tuition plans

Prepaid tuition plans, a type of 529 plan that locks in tuition rates when opened, are only offered in nine states for new enrollment. In addition to the nine states’ plans, there’s also a national plan for a network of 300 private colleges.

School choice vouchers have had mixed results

This podcast breaks down the arguments for and against vouchers and untangles what data suggests about them. While some states showed vouchers improving student learning, studies in Louisiana and Indiana showed that students who left public schools for private schools performed worse.

Roughly 10% of US apartments were owned by private equity firms as of 2025

Almost half of those apartments were purchased after 2021. However, local community groups across the country are experimenting with ways to put residential and commercial real estate in the hands of community members.

Peloton hit a million subscribers in June of 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in record-breaking sales for Peloton, as gyms closed and at-home fitness classes became the new norm. However, Peloton struggled to keep up with the increased demand. As the COVID-19 pandemic's lockdowns lifted, many people returned to the gym, reducing their need for on-demand at-home fitness classes. Some say Peloton's strong subscriber base is the ticket to helping the company eventually become profitable.

Find out ways to get lower rates on private loans, such as applying with a cosigner

More borrowers are being pushed to opt for private student loans as changes to federal borrowing caps and repayment plans are implemented. Private lenders typically advertise interest rates that fall anywhere between sub-3% and 15% or higher.

The average cost of college has doubled in the 21st century

Even for students attending in-state, public universities, the cost of attending college has risen dramatically, exceeding $27K with fees and living expenses per year.

Teen depression levels jumped during the pandemic

US government data published in 2025 but gathered from August 2021 through August 2023 indicated that depression prevalence among teens aged 12 to 19 was at 19.2%. It was even higher among females of that age group—26.5%

Restaurants are where most of us contract food poisoning in the US

From 2014 to 2022, most reported foodborne illness cases occurred at restaurants. Between 2020 and 2022—when COVID-19 also likely influenced restaurant eating habits and tracking—there were only 238 foodborne illness outbreaks linked to restaurants, down from 714 the prior two years. Still, restaurants were behind most reported outbreak cases. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Virtually all public libraries in the US offer free internet access

Beyond providing internet access, libraries have also expanded into broad digital hubs for communities. Ninety percent offer basic digital literacy training, 76% help patrons navigate online government services, and 73% assist people with job applications.

Mail-in voting has been used in US elections since the Civil War

Americans have cast mail-in ballots for more than a century, but COVID-19 greatly expanded their use. Modern systems track ballots and often require signature verification, increasing access while maintaining election security.

12% of adults were taking injectable GLP-1 for weight loss according to 2025 survey

Weight loss injectable use rose sharply between 2024 and fall 2025. The percentage of adults who reported taking this class of medicine specifically for weight loss increased to 12.4%, compared with 5.8% in February 2024 when Gallup first measured it.

About 250,000 patients accessed assisted reproductive technologies in 2022

In 2022, 251,542 patients tried assisted reproductive technologies—most commonly IVF—resulting in more than 98,000 infants. Those children represent around 2.6% of the babies born in the US.

Before Title IX, boys competing in high school sports far outnumbered girls

In 1971, the year before Title IX was passed, about 294,000 girls were playing high school sports. That paled in comparison to the number of boys: 3.7M.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

In 2020, government entities spent $316.5B on infrastructure, with state and local governments accounting for 34.8% of that amount.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

About 12.5% of US adults experience a phobia in their lifetime, a diagnosis that hinges on the intense fear interfering with daily life and persisting for at least six months.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

Explore what it's like inside a patient isolation unit, used in situations such as treating a patient or suspected patient with Ebola.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Coral polyps reproduce via broadcast spawning, where entire reefs simultaneously release reproductive cells for about one hour, once a year.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.