New Hampshire residents have a long-standing commitment to education. In 2000, 87.4% of New Hampshire residents age 25 and older were high school graduates. Some 28.7% had obtained a bachelor's degree or higher.
The total enrollment for fall 1999 in New Hampshire's public schools stood at 206,783. Of these, 146,854 attended schools from kindergarten through grade eight, and 59,929 attended high school. Minority students made up approximately 5% of the total enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools in 2001. Total enrollment was estimated at 210,454 in fall 2000 but expected to drop to 202,000 by fall 2005. The 1999/2000 per pupil expenditure for public elementary and secondary schools was $6,306, slightly below the US mean of $6,356. Expenditures for public education in 2000/01 were estimated at $1,536,740. Enrollment in nonpublic schools in fall 2001 was 23,383.
As of fall 2000, there were 74,832 students enrolled in college or graduate school. In the same year New Hampshire had 25 degree-granting institutions. The best-known institution of higher education is Dartmouth College, which originated in Connecticut in 1754 as Moor's Indian Charity School and was established at Hanover in 1769. When the state of New Hampshire attempted to amend Dartmouth's charter to make the institution public in the early 19th century, the US Supreme Court handed down a precedent-setting ruling prohibiting state violation of contract rights. The University of New Hampshire, the leading public institution, was founded at Hanover in 1866 and relocated at Durham in 1891. The university also has a campus in Manchester. Other colleges include Franklin Pierce College, Keene State College, and Southern New Hampshire University. In 1997, minority students comprised 5.7% of total postsecondary enrollment.