covid-impact
Missouri Lost 20,068 Students in a Single Year
While other states saw enrollment crater during COVID, Missouri held steady. Then 2022 hit, and nearly three-quarters of its districts lost students at once.
Show-Me State Education Coverage, Driven by Data
While other states saw enrollment crater during COVID, Missouri held steady. Then 2022 hit, and nearly three-quarters of its districts lost students at once.
St. Louis Public Schools enrolled 43,420 students in 2001. By 2026, just 16,211 remain, a 62.7% collapse that now threatens the district's accreditation and half its buildings.
Missouri's 855,081 public school students in 2025-26 marks a 25-year low, with losses accelerating from 220 students per year in the 2000s to nearly 3,900 per year since 2019.
DESE releases 2025-26 enrollment data showing 855,081 students, a 25-year low that extends an accelerating decline.