Alternative to Traditional K-12 Schools on the Rise

Rockville, MD, April 5, 2024 – According to the new report, PreK-12 Enrollment and Demographics 2024-2025, home schooling has become the fastest growing method of teaching K-12 students, as this form of instruction jumped from 2.5 million in 2019 to 4.3 million in 2022 an increase over more than 50%. North Carolina has the highest number of home-schooled students, with nearly180,000 reported in 2022; that state is followed by Florida with a count of over 143,000.

This is just one example of the notable growth of alternative schools that cater to students with unique educational needs, illustrating a rise in parental desires for more choices in diverse and flexible educational options. The number of such alternative schools has risen from 5,312 in the 2021-2022 academic year to 5,810 for 2022-2023, representing a one-year increase of over 9%.

These and other significant findings on student enrollment and demographics can be found in the just released PreK-12 Enrollment and Demographics 2024-2025 report. The study provides an extensive analysis of the current trends and future projections in the PreK-12 education sector in the United States.

Overall Enrollment Stabilizes

In addition to highlighting significant trends such as the rapid increase in home schooling and other educational alternatives, the report also surfaces the latest official data on student enrollment in the US. Here Simba shares that the total number of students enrolled for the 2022-2024   has in fact stabilized; however, they are still not yet at pre Covid levels, illustrating the continuing long term impact of the pandemic on education.

The report also breaks down enrollment data by key segments: geographic region, state, grade levels and socio-economic levels. It also examines enrollment trends not just for public schools, but for private, charter, Catholic and virtual schools as well. Also uncovered are the percentage of students in special education, broken down by state.

A key implication of the this report for both educators and suppliers of K-12 educational materials is the need to identify, track, reach, and meet any special needs of teachers, and increasingly parents in what kind of educational materials they need and want. In terms of home schooling in particular, one implication is a likely increasing need for more and varied supplementary materials.

Other Key Data

The report also provides timely data on other key forces impacting K-12 enrollment and demographics including enrollment projections through 2028; graduation rates, dual enrollment program rates, broader population trends such as birth rates; youth population and population state; school choice, microschooling, universal PreK programs, connectivity trends, English language learners and immigrations, data on homeless students and more.

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