State-supported preschools are seeing a rebound in enrollment after the COVID-19 pandemic erased a decade of progress in participation, according to The State of Preschool 2022 report from the National Institute for Early Education Research and Rutgers Graduate School of Education.
Preschool enrollment increased by 180,668 children — or 13% — in the 2021-22 school year compared to the year before, with all but seven states seeing enrollment growth. In total, 1.5 million children attended state-supported preschool programs in 2021-22.
Participation in early education, however, is not yet back to pre-pandemic numbers, the report said. Despite the gains, preschool enrollment in 2021-22 still fell short of 2019-20 enrollment by 130,558 children — or 8%.
