More than 138,500 students were enrolled in private Jewish schools throughout New York State during the 2013-2014 school year, according to state data reviewed by the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC). The students were enrolled in 392 active institutions throughout fifteen counties. 78,759 student were enrolled in Kings (Brooklyn), 22,083 in Rockland; 10,422 in Orange; 10,233 in Queens; 7,212 in Nassau, and 4,493 in Manhattan.

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The rest Jewish school enrollees were in the Bronx (1,671);  Staten Island (796); Sullivan (577); Monroe (195); Albany (148); Erie (115); Suffolk (73); Onondaga 61; Broome (23) and Saratoga (23) counties.

As a percent, Brooklyn had 56.8% of the enrollment; followed by 15.9% in Rockland; 7.5% in Orange; 7.4% in Queens; 5.2% in Nassau, and 3.2% in Manhattan.

Compared to five years ago (the 2009-2010 school year), enrollment in Jewish schools rose 18.5% in Orange County; 9.1% in Rockland; 7.4% in Nassau; 6.9% in Queens, and only 0.5% in Brooklyn. Manhattan enrollment dropped by 10% from five years ago and Westchester declined by thirteen percent.

“OJPAC collected this data as part of a comprehensive study to identify approximately how much funds state and local tax payers are saving annually by the fact that the vast majority of Orthodox Jewish students attend private, not public, schools,” OJPAC Co-Founder Yossi Gestetner said.

Enrollment in Jewish Schools was 30.1% of the 459,601 enrollees in nonpublic schools throughout New York State during the 2013-2014 school year. This number has been steadily increasing and experts predict enrollments to expand at an even greater pace over the next decade.