Private School Enrollment in California, 2022-2024
The CDE has released private school enrollment for the 2023-2024 school year, and overall, private school enrollment appears to be down 2.89%. But it isn't quite that simple.
First, it is worth noting that the data is derived annually from the filed Private School Affidavits. Schools that fail to file the PSA will not be included in the data and count which ultimately impacts the validity of the enrollment count. According to the data, there were 43 fewer PSAs filed for 2023-2024 than for 2022-2023. This accounts for schools that have closed and administrators that have- unfortunately- failed to remember this important task. It is not possible to know what percent of these missing PSAs may represent open schools that failed to file, but it is an important reminder to mark your calendar and ensure your PSA is submitted on time!
The 43 fewer PSAs account for a total enrollment decline of 14,910 students, reducing the total PSA-filing (6+ students) private school population from 516,560 to 501,650 (a 2.89% reduction). The decline in enrollment exists across each grade K-12, with the largest apparent declines from 2022-2023 to 2023-2024 in kindergarten (-2,458) and 9th grade (-2,243).
According to CAPSO's preliminary review of the available data from the CDE, a single responding private school reported an enrollment decline of 8,867 students, which accounts for 54% of the total student enrollment decline reported between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. This respondent is not a California Association of Private School Organizations member, so CAPSO cannot comment on the cause or accuracy of their reported figures. Indeed, this figure impacts the apparent trend across private schools in California.
The majority of reporting private schools maintained or increased enrollment between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. For those private schools that reported enrollment loss exceeding 10%, the majority (66%) were schools with 2022-2023 enrollment of fewer than 100 students, nearly half of which (48%) had 2022-2023 enrollments of fewer than 50 students. Given that fewer than a third of the schools reporting significant enrollment losses are California Association of Private School Organizations members, CAPSO cannot speculate about the contributing factors.
CAPSO will continue to monitor private school enrollment trends in California and share them as they become available. Meanwhile, schools are encouraged to be diligent about filing the PSA and may access the publically available enrollment reports via the CDE using the link below.
View Private School Enrollment Reports
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