Summary
This post examines trends in student enrollments for Indiana public schools.Table of Contents
Overview
This post examines Indiana Student Enrollments from 2006 through 2022.
Background
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) described national student enrollment trends. They were growing through the 1950s and 1960s as a result of the “baby boom” after World War 2, declined from 1971 through 1984, and increased once again from 1985 through 2006. Enrollments again declined between 2006 through 2011 and started growing again after 2011. The NCES predicts that enrollment changes would be relatively small through 2029.[1]
Figure 1: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). Digest of Education Statistics, 2019 (NCES 2021-009), Chapter 1.
Top 10 Indiana School Corporations by Enrollment Change 2006 to 2022
| corp_id | corp_name | students_2006 | students_2022 | pct_change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6795 | Union School Corporation | 476 | 6338 | 1231.5 |
| 9325 | Options Charter Schools | 128 | 776 | 506.2 |
| 9545 | 21st Century Charter Sch of Gary | 264 | 1330 | 403.8 |
| 9485 | SE Neighborhood Sch of Excellence | 178 | 627 | 252.2 |
| 9535 | Gary Lighthouse Charter School | 376 | 1196 | 218.1 |
| 9575 | Victory College Prep Academy | 297 | 940 | 216.5 |
| 9330 | Irvington Community School | 362 | 978 | 170.2 |
| 9400 | KIPP Indy College Prep Middle | 166 | 377 | 127.1 |
| 1000 | Clarksville Community School Corp | 1503 | 3129 | 108.2 |
| 9380 | Christel House Academy South | 358 | 738 | 106.1 |
Bottom 10 Indiana School Corporations by Enrollment Change 2006 to 2022
| corp_id | corp_name | students_2006 | students_2022 | pct_change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4690 | Gary Community School Corp | 15119 | 4374 | -71.1 |
| 9610 | Indiana School For The Deaf | 310 | 138 | -55.5 |
| 7645 | Northeast School Corp | 1496 | 786 | -47.5 |
| 3640 | Medora Community School Corp | 299 | 161 | -46.2 |
| 7610 | Hamilton Community Schools | 659 | 359 | -45.5 |
| 4670 | School City of East Chicago | 6017 | 3379 | -43.8 |
| 5910 | Eminence Community School Corp | 551 | 318 | -42.3 |
| 5385 | Indianapolis Public Schools | 37554 | 22126 | -41.1 |
| 4455 | Whitko Community School Corp | 1999 | 1243 | -37.8 |
| 7515 | North Judson-San Pierre Sch Corp | 1462 | 914 | -37.5 |
Conclusion
Indiana’s public school enrollments reached a high in 2007 at 1,024,761 students. Since then enrollments have trended down, reaching a low in 2021 at 977,867. The observations of student enrollments were limited to school corporations with geographic boundaries within the US Census Cartographic Boundaries file.
Possible explanations for Indiana’s declining public school district enrollments may include parents and students choosing religious and charter schools over traditional public schools. Or Indiana’s population could be declining overall. Comparisons to population trends as reported by the US Census would be helpful.
Another factor that may complicate comparisons over time is that school districts’ boundaries may have changed. In other words, some school districts may have consolidated or divided. Union School Corporation showed a 1231% increase in student enrollments which is difficult to explain through population growth alone.
Other trends are notable as well. Urban and inner city school districts lost students whereas satellite/suburban communities around the urban core gained students. This was most obvious in and around the Indianapolis Public School District and the Gary Community School Corporation.
References
Disclaimer
The views, analysis and conclusions presented within this paper represent the author’s alone and not of any other person, organization or government entity. While I have made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information in this article was correct, it will nonetheless contain errors, inaccuracies and inconsistencies. It is a working paper subject to revision without notice as additional information becomes available. Any liability is disclaimed as to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Reproducibility
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