NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: April 18, 2024
Mississippi doubles preschool enrollment, spending with plans for further expansion, according to 2023 NIEER report
JACKSON, Miss. – A new report released today from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) finds Mississippi is one of only five states in the country to meet 10 of 10 research-based quality standards benchmarks for pre-kindergarten programs. Mississippi ranks 35th in the nation for preschool enrollment for 4-year-olds.
NIEER released its annual State of Preschool report, which tracks preschool enrollment, funding, and quality across states. The 2023 State of Preschool Yearbook found that in the 2022-23 school year:
- Mississippi enrolled 5,329 4-year-olds in Early Learning Collaboratives, an increase of 2,522 from the prior year.
- State spending totaled $16 million and an additional $1,485,429 in federal COVID-19 relief funding supported the program, up $8,064,628 (86%), adjusted for inflation, since last year.
- State spending per child equaled $3,281 in 2022-23, down $75 from 2021-22, adjusted for inflation.
- Mississippi met 10 of 10 research-based quality standards benchmarks for minimum quality recommended by NIEER.
Mississippi leaders showed their commitment to expanding preschool access in 2022-23 by more than doubling both the number of seats and funding. The state continued that expansion in 2023-24 by adding over 3,000 additional preschool seats and committing funding to plan for expansion. The state also began a new State Invested Pre-K (SIP) program in August 2023, which is not yet covered by this report, with capacity to reach another approximately 3,800 children.
“The fact that Mississippi is one of only five states to meet 10 of 10 benchmarks really highlights just how much momentum our state has in the classroom,” said Gov. Tate Reeves. “We’ve already doubled the number of seats and funding toward preschool access, and we’ll continue doing whatever it takes to support Mississippi’s parents, teachers, and students. This is another big win for education in our state.”
“Mississippi is headed in the right direction and should be praised for its planful preschool expansion, which we hope will continue,” said Steven W. Barnett, Ph.D., NIEER’s senior co-director and founder. “The state serves as an example of a preschool program that started small with high quality standards in place and has expanded while maintaining those standards.”
During the 2022-23 school year, states enrolled over 1.63 million children in preschool, marking a 7% surge compared to the preceding year. Preschool enrollment reached 35% of 4-year-olds and 7% of 3-year-olds, with state expenditures reaching $11.73 billion—an 11% increase from 2021-2022 when adjusted for inflation. Notably, state spending per child surpassed $7,000 for the first time. However, despite this notable progress, most states still fell short of their pre-pandemic preschool enrollment. While several states made strides towards achieving universal preschool access, six states persisted in not allocating any funding for preschool programs.
The 2023 State of Preschool Yearbook was supported with funding from the Heising-Simons Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For more information and detailed state-by-state profiles on quality, access, and funding, please visit www.nieer.org.
The National Institute for Early Education Research at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, New Brunswick, NJ, supports early childhood education policy and practice through independent, objective research and the translation of research to policy and practice.
Find all MDE news releases at mdek12.org/news.
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