These States Have Lost the Most Students Since the Pandemic

The National Center for Education Statistics released enrollment data for public schools, showing which states have increased student counts since the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures and which states have yet to see students return to those classrooms. The new data digest released this month by NCES shows that most states saw decreases in public school student enrollment between the fall of 2019 and the fall of 2022, with only a handful of states gaining students overall. Public schools have not regained students who stopped attending during the pandemic.