Enrollment Data: How Many Students Went Missing in Your State?
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Enrollment Data: How Many Students Went Missing in Your State?

A look at state enrollment data during the 2020-21 school year
By Eesha Pendharkar & Maya Riser-Kositsky — July 02, 2021 | Updated: February 01, 2022 1 min read
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Updated: This page was updated with new data from Illinois on July 9, 2021. It was updated with new data from Delaware, Illinois (special education data), and New Jersey (special education data) on July 22, 2021. It was updated with new data from Alabama, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, and North Carolina on Dec. 6, 2021. It was updated with new data from Tennessee on Jan. 13, 2022. Data for Nebraska (English-language learners, special education students, and free and reduced price meal enrollment) was updated on Feb. 1, 2022.

America’s public school system lost more than 1.3 million students in the 2020-21 school year, according to an Education Week analysis of state data.

The loss was spread out across the nation, touching almost every demographic group and concentrated in lower grades. It will likely have academic, financial and staffing repercussions for years to come.

Education Week reached out to 51 state departments of education in order to collect a more comprehensive picture of enrollment losses across the country.

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Students participate in class outside at the Woodland Pond School, a private school located near Bangor, Maine. Maine experienced one of the nation's largest drops in student enrollment in the 2020-21 school year, according to an EdWeek analysis.
Students participate in class outside at the Woodland Pond School, a private school located near Bangor, Maine. Maine experienced one of the nation's largest drops in student enrollment in the 2020-21 school year, according to an EdWeek analysis.
Photo courtesy of Woodland Pond School
School & District Management More Than 1 Million Students Didn't Enroll During the Pandemic. Will They Come Back?
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Contact Information

For media or research inquiries about this data, contact library@educationweek.org.

How to Cite This Page

Enrollment Data: How Many Students Went Missing in Your State? (2021, July 2). Education Week. Retrieved Month Day, Year from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/enrollment-data-how-many-students-went-missing-in-your-state/2021/07

Eesha Pendharkar
Staff Writer,  Education Week
Eesha Pendharkar was a reporter for Education Week covering race and opportunity in education.
Maya Riser-Kositsky
Librarian and Data Specialist,  Education Week
Maya Riser-Kositsky is a librarian and data specialist who focuses on data and research projects.
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Holly Peele, Sr. Library Director contributed to this article.

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