The narrowing of differences in usage rates at school compared to home is illustrated in figures 1, 2, and 3. Figure 1 shows that the percentage of students using computers at home increases as their parents' educational attainment increases, but that the percentage using computers at school is more nearly equal across the levels of parental education. Figure 2 shows the same pattern for family income: home computer use rates increase as family income increases, but use of computers at school remains relatively high across all levels of income. Similarly, Figure 3 shows that differences in computer use between racial/ethnic groups tend to be smaller at school than at home.

Table 1 looks at students who access the Internet through one location only. Such students make up approximately 34 percent of all students who use the Internet and number approximately 11.7 million. Looking at the data in this way helps to more clearly illustrate the role schools play in providing Internet access for students by showing how heavily students from some backgrounds rely on schools for access. The table shows that the home is the most likely point of access among those who access the Internet from only one location. More than half of single-location Internet users rely solely on home access. However, several groups of single location users-those from households where no parents have education beyond a high school credential, those from monolingual Spanish households, those in poverty, those with family incomes below $35,000 per year, those living outside metropolitan areas, and Black and American Indian students-rely more heavily on access to the Internet from school than on access from any other single location. Sixty-three percent of students who have no parent who has earned a high school credential and who have only one point of access for the Internet rely on school facilities for this access. Conversely, 24 percent of students who use the Internet in only one place and who live with parents who attended graduate school do so through school facilities. Among students with a single point of access, those from Spanish-monolingual households are more likely to rely solely on school for access, compared to other students (55 percent compared to 39 percent). Likewise, poor students who use the Internet in only one place were more likely than other students to rely solely on school as an access point (60 percent compared to 33 percent).