Public & Private Schooling (K-12)

Use it when You want to find public schools and districts by name, street address, city, state or zip code, and see their basic details. The listings come from the federal Common Core of Data for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years.

Use it when You want to look up private schools, including by religious affiliation or by the school associations they belong to.

Use it when You want the federal position on enrollment and immigration status. The page states that the citizenship or immigration status of students, parents or guardians cannot be used to bar students from public schools. It links to a 2014 Justice and Education fact sheet on proof of residency, proof of age and Social Security numbers; that file was not available at its address when we checked on October 7, 2026.

What happens next: If you believe a district is breaking these rules, the Department's Office for Civil Rights page, linked below, explains how to file a civil rights complaint.

Use it when You need to match your child's vaccination record to your state's school requirements. The page explains that state laws set the requirements and points to CDC's compilation of state school vaccination laws.

Have ready: Your child's vaccination record.

Use it when Your child is under school age and you want the federal Head Start program's own website, run by the Department of Health and Human Services. We could not open the site from outside the US when we checked on October 7, 2026, so we do not describe its contents.

Use it when You are considering an independent school and want an overview of admissions and financial aid. NAIS is a nonprofit membership association, and its site labels its school directory 'Find a Member School', so it is not a list of all independent schools.

Use it when Your child has, or may have, a disability and you want to understand special education and early intervention.

Use it when You want to see your child's education records. At a school that receives Department of Education funds, the FERPA regulations give a parent the right to inspect and review the child's education records, and the school must give access within a reasonable time and no later than 45 days after it receives the request. These rights pass to the student when the student turns 18 or starts attending college.

Use it when You believe a school has discriminated against your child, including on the basis of national origin. OCR enforces federal civil rights laws in schools that receive Department of Education funding and explains how to file a complaint.

Use it when You want to search US colleges and compare them side by side. For admissions tests, see our SAT and ACT guide.

Use it when Your child is preparing for college and is a US citizen or national, a permanent resident, or another noncitizen who meets the federal student aid eligibility rules.