The number of Americans aged 3 or older enrolled in school fell from 76 million in 2019 to 73 million in 2020—a decline of 2.9 million. Behind the decline was the coronavirus pandemic, which not only turned learning virtual but also kept many from going to school at all.
Most of the decline in school enrollment occurred among the youngest students. The number of children enrolled in nursery school or kindergarten fell by 1.5 million between 2019 and 2020, accounting for 54 percent of the overall decline in enrollment. The enrollment rate of 3-to-4-year-olds plunged from 54 to just 40 percent—the first time since 1996 that the enrollment rate of the age group has been below 50 percent.
Percentage of 3-to-4-year-olds who were enrolled in nursery school/kindergarten
2020: 40.3%
2019: 53.7%
Enrollment in the nation's colleges fell from 18.3 million in 2019 to 17.7 million in 2020. Two-year colleges accounted for most of the decline. Two-year schools lost 588,000 students between 2019 and 2020, the largest drop in two-year college enrollment in the Census Bureau's data series. Four-year college enrollment fell by 172,000—less than the 301,000 decline between 2018 and 2019. Graduate schools bucked the trend, their enrollment growing by 145,000 in 2020.
School enrollment in 2020 (and percent change since 2019)
Total enrolled: 73,222,000 (-3.8%)
Nursery/kindergarten: 7,242,000 (-17.6%)
Elementary school: 32,046,000 (-1.9%)
High school: 16,259,000 (-0.8%)
College: 17,674,000 (-3.4%)
Source: Census Bureau, School Enrollment in the United States: October 2020—Detailed Tables
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