Texas Public Enrollment Drops 76,000 in 2025-26

Texas public school enrollment fell by more than 76,000 students at the start of the 2025-26 academic year, marking the first statewide decline in nearly four decades outside the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from the policy research group Texas 2036.

The drop represents about 1.4 percent of the state's roughly 5.5 million public school students. Hispanic students accounted for 81 percent of the decline, or approximately 61,781 fewer pupils, the largest year-over-year reversal among the state's major racial and ethnic groups. English language learners and students from low-income families saw some of the steepest losses. The reductions hit urban districts, the Panhandle and areas along the southern border hardest, even as Texas' overall population continued to grow.

During a Texas House Public Education Committee hearing on Monday, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath confirmed the enrollment drop, telling lawmakers, "We cannot tell you the precise cause of this." Demographic analyst Bob Templeton testified that the trend stems from declining birth rates, slower domestic and international migration, and shifts toward private, charter and home schooling options....