The State of Preschool Yearbook 2021
The State of Preschool 2021 annual report covers the 2020-2021 school year, the first school year fully impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic created difficulties such as health risks, closed classrooms, and remote preschool that disrupted already fragile systems. Enrollment declined by 18%, the first decrease in preschool enrollment in two decades. Preschool spending decreased too, but not as dramatically because many states protected preschool funding despite lower enrollments and preserved capacity for a rebound in enrollment. States also utilized federal funding, including pandemic relief funds to support preschool. Quality remains a concern as most states spend too little per child to provide a high quality program, and states relaxed standards during the pandemic.
Across the 44 states, DC, and Guam that funded a preschool program in 2020-2021, 29% of 4-year-olds and 5% of 3-year-olds were enrolled, a substantial decrease from pre-pandemic levels, erasing a decade of growth in preschool enrollment. Three state-funded preschool programs made changes to gain an additional benchmark for minimum quality standards (KS, UT, WA ECEAP). State funding for preschool fell by $254 million (adjusted for inflation) but spending from all sources increased. State preschool spending per child remains essentially the same as two decades ago, adjusting for inflation, below $6,000.
In the report, NIEER lays out policy recommendations for states and the federal government to expedite increased access to high-quality, full-day preschool.

Yearbook Contents
- Full Report
- Executive Summary
- What Qualifies as a State Preschool Program?
- Roadmap to State Profile Pages
- Methodology
- 2021 Survey Data
- Non-Survey Data
- National Press Release / en español
- Pre-release Reporters Briefing (YouTube)
- Unworthy Wage Report / Press Release
State Profiles
Click a state to view its profile.
Alabama
Profile News ReleaseAlaska
Profile News ReleaseArizona
Profile News ReleaseArkansas
Profile News ReleaseCalifornia
Profile News ReleaseColorado
Profile News ReleaseConnecticut
Profile News ReleaseDelaware
Profile News ReleaseDistrict of Columbia
Profile News ReleaseFlorida
Profile News ReleaseGeorgia
Profile News ReleaseHawaii
Profile News ReleaseIdaho
Profile News ReleaseIllinois
Profile News ReleaseIndiana
Profile News ReleaseIowa
Profile News ReleaseKansas
Profile News ReleaseKentucky
Profile News ReleaseLouisiana
Profile News ReleaseMaine
Profile News ReleaseMaryland
Profile News ReleaseMassachusetts
Profile News ReleaseMichigan
Profile News ReleaseMinnesota
Profile News ReleaseMississippi
Profile News ReleaseMissouri
Profile News ReleaseMontana
Profile News ReleaseNebraska
Profile News ReleaseNevada
Profile News ReleaseNew Hampshire
Profile News ReleaseNew Jersey
Profile News ReleaseNew Mexico
Profile News ReleaseNew York
Profile News ReleaseNorth Carolina
Profile News ReleaseNorth Dakota
Profile News ReleaseOhio
Profile News ReleaseOklahoma
Profile News ReleaseOregon
Profile News ReleasePennsylvania
Profile News ReleaseRhode Island
Profile News ReleaseSouth Carolina
Profile News ReleaseSouth Dakota
Profile News ReleaseTennessee
Profile News ReleaseTexas
Profile News ReleaseUtah
Profile News ReleaseVermont
Profile News ReleaseVirginia
Profile News ReleaseWashington
Profile News ReleaseWest Virginia
ProfileNews ReleaseWisconsin
Profile News ReleaseWyoming
Profile News ReleaseAmerican Samoa
ProfileCommonwealth of The Northern Mariana Islands
ProfileGuam
Profile News ReleasePalau
ProfilePuerto Rico
ProfileVirgin Islands
ProfileNon-Survey Data
- Appendix A: State Survey Data 2020-2021
- Appendix B: Head Start Data
- Appendix C: U.S. Census Population Data
- Appendix D: Pre-K Special Education Enrollment Data
Suggested Citation: Friedman-Krauss, A. H., Barnett, W. S., Garver, K. A., Hodges, K. S., Weisenfeld, G., Gardiner, B. A., Jost, T. M. (2022). The State of Preschool 2021: State Preschool Yearbook. New Brunswick, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research.