The surge in immigrants arriving in Colorado last year softened the enrollment decline in the state’s public schools, which for years have been losing students — and funding — as birth rates fall across the nation.
The arrival of thousands of migrant students didn’t fully offset falling enrollment, which dwindled to an 11-year-low in the fall. Statewide, enrollment in preschool through 12th grade fell by 399 students — or less than 1 percent — in October to 881,065 pupils, according to new data released Wednesday by the Colorado Department of Education.
But that drop is just a fraction of the students districts lost the two previous years, when enrollment fell by 3,253 pupils in 2022 and 1,800 in 2023. Statewide, enrollment in public schools has fallen 3.5% since peaking during the 2019-2020 academic year at 913,223 pupils.
“We know that parents have many options for their child’s education, and public schools in Colorado and across the country are working hard to improve student engagement and strengthen relationships with their students, families and communities,” Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova said in a statement.
Enrollment didn’t fall as much as in recent years, in part because of the unexpected influx of immigrant children to the state, especially in metro Denver, where seven districts — including Denver Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools — saw student numbers rise, Córdova said during a Wednesday press briefing.
K-12 enrollment has fallen nationwide as fewer Americans are having babies, but the decline also coincided with the pandemic, and, since the public health crisis, chronic absenteeism and homeschooling have increased nationally. In Denver, rising housing costs and gentrification also are driving families from neighborhoods they grew up in.
Births are expected to continue to decline in Colorado until either 2028 or 2029, Córdova said.
Statewide, 9,826 students were being homeschooled during the 2024-25 academic year, up 4.5% from the 9,406 homeschooled the previous year. The number of students registered in online educational programs also rose 5.6% to 33,629, according to the education department.
The enrollment crisis is placing financial strain on school districts, which receive less state funding when there are fewer children in their classrooms. As a result, Colorado's three largest districts -- Denver Public Schools, Jeffco Public Schools and the Douglas County School District -- have closed or are planning to close schools.
As enrollment falls, the makeup of Colorado's student population is also changing. More students of color are attending the state's schools, whereas enrollment has fallen among white students, according to the education department.
Notably, enrollment among Latino students jumped almost 3% -- or by 8,722 -- to 321,409 since the 2023-24 academic year. Enrollment of multilingual leaners also jumped 10% from 95,734 in 2023 to 105,362 last fall, according to the education department.
At the same time, enrollment among white pupils, which make up almost half of the state's total student population, fell by 2.5%, or 11,307 pupils, to 433,680 kids, according to state data.
While enrollment fell across Colorado, the state's largest district -- DPS -- saw the number of students in its classrooms jump the highest level since enrollment peaked during the 2019-20 academic year, thanks in large part to the more than 4,700 immigrant students who arrived in the city last year.
Just under 4,000 of those students attended DPS schools through the end of the 2023-24 academic year and 80% of the students who finished the year returned in the fall, said Andrew Huber, the district’s executive director of enrollment and campus planning.
“There was substantial retention of those new arrival students,” he said.
DPS enrollment jumped 2.5% to 90,450 pupils during the 2024-25 academic year. By comparison, when enrollment peaked five years ago, the district had 92,112 students, according to state data.
However, the enrollment bump is expected to be short-lived as falling birth rates and rising housing cost persist, Huber said.
DPS plans to close seven schools and restructure another three so that they serve fewer students when the 2024-25 academic year ends because of low enrollment.
Two other metro districts -- Aurora Public Schools and the Cherry Creek School District -- also saw a bump in enrollment this year.
Aurora saw a 1.7% increase in enrollment to 39,813 students, while Cherry Creek saw less than a 1 percent rise in enrollment to 52,672 pupils. Meanwhile, Jeffco Public Schools and the Douglas County School District both saw enrollment drop less than 1 percent in the fall, enrolling 75,495 and 61,851 students respectively.
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