In this series: The NJEdTribune examines New Jersey's latest enrollment decline, the districts defying it, and the demographic shifts underneath the statewide total.

New Jersey recently released its 2025-26 fall enrollment file. The figures below come from the state's published enrollment reports and cover the 27 academic years from 1999-2000 through 2025-26. This piece is the data overview for the EdTribune's 2025-26 New Jersey enrollment series. It does not interpret the numbers. Subsequent articles in the series will.

The headline numbers

Total enrollment in 2025-26 was 1,357,450, down 23,732 students (-1.72%) from 2024-25. That is the largest single-year decline in the 27-year window of state files. It is also the lowest annual total since the 2001-02 school year (the 2002-03 total was 1,367,249, slightly above this year's figure).

Stripping pre-kindergarten out for a consistent K-12 measure across the full 27-year panel, K-12 enrollment fell 24,564 students (-1.9%), from 1,293,951 in 2024-25 to 1,269,386 in 2025-26. The first COVID year (2019-20 to 2020-21) saw a K-12 decline of 24,811 (-1.86%). The 2025-26 K-12 decline is virtually identical in size, with no comparable national-level shock attached.

District breadth: of the 663 districts that report 2025-26 enrollment, 414 (62%) shrank year-over-year. The decline is broad rather than concentrated.

Pre-kindergarten was the only growing segment. PK rose by 832 students this year and is up 46,857 students (+113.7%) since 2018-19 as the state's universal preschool program has expanded. The PK gain absorbed about 3% of the K-12 loss.

Measure	2024-25	2025-26	Change
Total enrollment	1,381,182	1,357,450	-23,732 (-1.72%)
K-12 (total minus PK)	1,293,951	1,269,386	-24,564 (-1.90%)
Pre-K	87,231	88,063	+832 (+1.0%)
Kindergarten	89,428	86,554	-2,874 (-3.21%)
12th grade	107,048	105,879	-1,169 (-1.09%)
Hispanic	483,504	477,187	-6,318 (-1.31%)
English learners (LEP)	155,304	152,211	-3,093 (-1.99%)
Districts that shrank YoY	355 of 666	414 of 663	n/a

Hispanic and English-learner reversals

Hispanic enrollment in 2025-26 was 477,187, down 6,318 students (-1.31%) from 2024-25. This is the first annual decline in the 27-year state file panel. From 2000-01 through 2024-25, Hispanic enrollment grew every single year, averaging roughly 11,500 additional students per year over that span.

English-learner enrollment was 152,211 in 2025-26, down 3,093 students (-1.99%) from 2024-25. The previous annual decline was in 2010-11 (-440), and before that in 2007-08 (-2,444). The 2024-25 figure had been a record sprint of +24,481 students (+18.7%) over the prior year. The 2025-26 figure is the first reversal in this measure since 2010-11.

The Hispanic decline concentrates in the state's 20 largest Hispanic-enrollment districts. In 2024-25, those 20 districts collectively added 1,371 Hispanic students; 9 of 20 had grown. In 2025-26, the same 20 districts collectively lost 5,628 Hispanic students, and 13 of 20 lost Hispanic students year-over-year. The aggregate flipped from net positive to net negative in a single year.

Top-20 Hispanic-enrollment districts (2025-26)	2024-25 Hisp. change	2025-26 Hisp. change
Newark Public School District	+1,669	+460
Elizabeth Public Schools	+88	-1,002
Paterson Public School District	-242	-1,138
Union City School District	-63	-612
Passaic City School District	-311	-709
Trenton Public School District	+612	-827
Jersey City Public Schools	-134	-321
Perth Amboy Public School District	-138	-119
Plainfield Public School District	-213	-398
New Brunswick School District	-384	-488
West New York School District	-60	-485
Clifton Public School District	+40	-108
Vineland Public School District	-43	-119
North Bergen School District	-34	-145
Hamilton Township Public School District	+274	+92
Bridgeton City School District	-21	+198
Woodbridge Township School District	+78	+9
Toms River Regional School District	+153	+54
Kearny	+94	+23
Belleville Public School District	+6	+7
Top-20 aggregate	+1,371	-5,628

Kindergarten and the K-to-12th-grade ratio

Kindergarten enrollment was 86,554 in 2025-26, down 2,874 (-3.21%) from 2024-25. The K-to-12 ratio (kindergarten count divided by 12th-grade count) was 0.82 in 2025-26, the lowest in 27 years of state files.

For context, the K/12 ratio in 1999-00, the earliest year in the current state files, was 1.23. The ratio peaked at 1.28 in 2000-01. A ratio of 1.00 means the kindergarten class equals the graduating class. New Jersey's ratio first fell below 1.00 in 2006-07 and has not returned above it; in 2020-21 it dropped sharply to 0.83. In 2025-26, the kindergarten class is about 18% smaller than the graduating class.

A simple linear projection anchored to the most recent five years of K and 12th-grade trends would place the kindergarten cohort at roughly 82,600 by 2030-31 and 78,600 by 2035-36, with the K/12 ratio at 0.78 by the latter year. The projection assumes recent trends continue.

State composition, 2009-10 vs. 2025-26

The state's detailed enrollment tables run from 2009-10 forward. The two snapshots below cover the most recent 17 years.

By race and ethnicity

Group	2009-10 students	2009-10 share	2025-26 students	2025-26 share	Absolute change
White	734,665	53.1%	494,974	36.5%	-239,690
Hispanic	285,946	20.7%	477,187	35.2%	+191,241
Black	234,112	16.9%	191,180	14.1%	-42,932
Asian	117,656	8.5%	141,702	10.4%	+24,046
Multiracial	5,969	0.4%	47,160	3.5%	+41,190
Native American	2,733	0.2%	2,881	0.2%	+148
Pacific Islander	2,627	0.2%	2,365	0.2%	-262

(Multiracial counts climbed from 5,970 in 2009-10 to 13,801 in 2012-13 as federal reporting categories were phased in, before stabilizing into a steady rise.)

By special population

Population	2009-10	2025-26	Change
English learners (LEP)	55,803	152,211	+96,408
Free lunch	358,912	511,826	+152,914
Reduced-price lunch	86,152	68,187	-17,965
Multiracial students	5,969	47,160	+41,191

Note: state-level free-lunch share rose from about 32% to about 37% between 2023-24 and 2024-25, the largest single-year shift in this measure in the 17-year window. The most likely explanation is expanded participation in the federal Community Eligibility Provision, which classifies all students in qualifying districts as eligible for free meals. Year-over-year free-lunch comparisons across that boundary should be interpreted with that caveat.

By district sector

Sector	2009-10 students	2019-20 students	2025-26 students	2025-26 share
Traditional public districts	1,338,414	1,289,592	1,262,234	93.0%
Charter schools	21,686	55,604	64,037	4.7%
County vocational-technical districts	23,606	30,634	31,178	2.3%

Top 10 districts by 2025-26 enrollment

Rank	District	2009-10	2024-25	2025-26	YoY	16-year change
1	Newark Public School District	39,440	43,980	43,216	-764 (-1.7%)	+3,776 (+9.6%)
2	Elizabeth Public Schools	21,743	27,979	26,708	-1,271 (-4.5%)	+4,965 (+22.8%)
3	Jersey City Public Schools	27,464	25,692	25,307	-385 (-1.5%)	-2,157 (-7.9%)
4	Paterson Public School District	24,080	23,609	21,849	-1,760 (-7.5%)	-2,231 (-9.3%)
5	Edison Township School District	14,215	16,708	16,191	-517 (-3.1%)	+1,976 (+13.9%)
6	Trenton Public School District	10,979	15,473	14,379	-1,094 (-7.1%)	+3,400 (+31.0%)
7	Toms River Regional School District	17,102	14,117	13,925	-192 (-1.4%)	-3,177 (-18.6%)
8	Woodbridge Township School District	13,105	13,870	13,425	-445 (-3.2%)	+320 (+2.4%)
9	Hamilton Township Public School District	12,757	12,194	12,112	-82 (-0.7%)	-645 (-5.1%)
10	Union City School District	10,224	12,617	12,006	-611 (-4.8%)	+1,782 (+17.4%)

County-level totals, 2009-10 to 2025-26

Aggregating district-level enrollment by the county where each district sits. The figures below exclude charter schools (which the state files group under a separate "Charters" pseudo-county).

Counties with the largest absolute gains

County	2009-10	2025-26	Change	% change
Union	87,317	95,696	+8,379	+9.6%
Essex	119,443	125,813	+6,370	+5.3%
Hudson	77,386	80,614	+3,228	+4.2%
Middlesex	120,334	121,809	+1,475	+1.2%
Mercer	57,780	58,960	+1,179	+2.0%

Counties with the largest absolute declines

County	2009-10	2025-26	Change	% change
Monmouth	105,552	87,674	-17,878	-16.9%
Ocean	75,759	63,831	-11,927	-15.7%
Morris	80,127	72,082	-8,045	-10.0%
Passaic	80,099	73,151	-6,948	-8.7%
Somerset	55,006	48,696	-6,310	-11.5%

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.