Between 2013 and 2019, the percentage of students enrolled in public schools rose steadily as the U.S. population grew from 316.1 million to 328.3 million. Once the pandemic hit, enrollment numbers fell by more than a million. From fall 2019 to fall 2020, the number of students enrolled in U.S. public elementary and secondary schools dropped from 50.8 million to 49.4 million, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Once public elementary and secondary schools reopened for in-person learning at some point in 2021, enrollment jumped back up to around 50.1 million. However, in 2023, the number fell back down to 49.7 million, which is still 2.09% below pre-pandemic levels, according to Scholaroo. The data is depicted in the graph below.
This significant drop in public school enrollment raises several important questions:
- Why does it matter?
- Where did all those students go?
- Why did they leave the public school system?
Why Does the Public School Enrollment Decline Matter?
While there are countless reasons why the drop in enrollment is concerning, one of the most obvious is that public schools lose funding as they lose students. For instance, in Massachusetts, school funding is primarily based on a per-pupil allotment each school district receives — i.e. the higher the number of students, the more state and local funding it receives.
“You will have to struggle with balanced budgets as student numbers decline,” Glenn Koocher, executive director for the Massachusetts School Committees Association, told Mass Live. “It is the educational story since the beginning of time.”
Amy Rock Editorial, LLC 