More than 1,000 public schools across the United States closed during the 2025-26 school year as school districts grappled with declining student enrollment and mounting financial pressures, according to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
The latest report marks the fourth consecutive year of rising public school closures. In comparison, 755 public schools were closed during the 2021-22 school year, indicating a steady increase over the past four years. Public school closures have surged by 35 per cent nationwide over the past four years, driven by a shrinking youth population and the expiration of Covid-19 relief funds that had temporarily supported education budgets in several districts.
The report said additional school closures are already planned in districts including Houston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Broward County, Florida.
"We call it the big shrink," Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University's Edunomics Lab, told The Washington Post.
"Enrollment at public schools is declining, partly because there are fewer kids in the US," Roza said.
According to the report, public school closures slowed temporarily during the Covid-19 pandemic as administrators prioritised managing its impact and relied on federal relief funds to balance budgets. With those funds now exhausted, experts say many districts are being forced to close schools to cope with reduced enrollment, which also lowers the amount of state funding they receive.
Federal projections indicate that public school enrollment has already begun declining from its 2019 peak and is expected to continue falling in the coming years. Between 2019 and 2031, public schools are projected to lose nearly 4 million students. The report noted that these estimates were made before the Trump administration introduced measures to sharply curb immigration, a move expected to further reduce student numbers in some districts.
Some school districts are also dealing with population shifts as families relocate to suburban areas or other parts of the country. In addition, Roza said that in states such as Florida, more families are opting for private schools through taxpayer-funded voucher and scholarship programmes or enrolling children in charter schools, which are publicly funded but operate with greater autonomy.