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Colorado’s student body grows more diverse as enrollment dips still

An Aspen School District bus parked in front of Aspen Middle School.
The Aspen Times archives

There’s been a demographic shift in Colorado’s public education system, as revealed by the Colorado Department of Education’s 2024 enrollment data.

Amid a slight drop in statewide student enrollment, the data shows that immigrant students are helping to fill empty seats, more students are switching to online and homeschooling, and more are needing help with English proficiency as Colorado’s student body grows increasingly diverse.

The Colorado Department of Education released data on Jan. 15 from the state’s 2024 student count, which was held in October. The data is used to determine state funding for public schools.



The decrease in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade student enrollment mirrors what the state saw during the 2023-24 school year when enrollment reached the state’s lowest mark in a decade due to a combination of declining birth rates and slowed net migration.

Although October 2024 counts show a smaller decrease in enrollment from 2023, many of the same factors continue to influence enrollment.




“We’re definitely seeing young people delay the start of their families. Housing plays a big part in that,” Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova said during a presentation to the media. “Our school districts across the state are (also) grappling with the implications of housing on their young workforce.”

Colorado’s declining enrollment follows larger national trends, with schools across the country seeing their student population shrink after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What we have here is the data — we have the figures, we have the numbers — but it’s important to note that the data doesn’t reflect the decision-making process of families or the socioeconomic context that might be influencing student enrollment,” Córdova said.

Colorado’s total 2024 student enrollment was recorded in October at 881,065, a decrease of 0.1% compared with October 2023. The drop in enrollment is slightly lower than the 0.2% decrease recorded from 2022 to 2023.

Early elementary grades — pre-kindergarten through second grade — saw the largest enrollment declines across the state, with 3,204 fewer students than the prior year, or a 1.5% decrease.

Meanwhile, the number of older students enrolled in 11th and 12th grades increased by 2,039 students, followed by an increase of 1,401 students in fifth and sixth grade classrooms.

Additionally, more students are enrolling in homeschooling now than in previous years.

District-run home school programs have experienced an enrollment increase of 29% since 2022, with a 13.3% increase for non-district-involved homeschooling. Full-time online enrollment has also gone up 9.2% since 2022, with 33,629 Colorado students getting their K-12 education online.

Shifting demographics

Hispanic students saw the highest enrollment increases in public schools and now make up 36.5% of overall 2024-25 enrollment in Colorado.

Enrollment for this demographic reached 321,409 students in October 2024 — 8,722 more students than the prior year for an increase of 2.79%. In the last decade, Hispanic enrollment amounted to 26,974 new students.

“This increase also mirrors the state of Colorado’s larger demographic trends, which shows steady increases in the state’s Hispanic population over the last two decades,” Córdova said. The growth of Colorado’s Hispanic student population could be a factor for why the state saw a slower drop in enrollment in 2024.

Several school districts in the metro area experienced an influx of migrant student enrollment in early 2024, which could help explain why Denver, Aurora, and Cherry Creek districts were some of the few to see an increase in enrollment.

“We do have the data, (but) we have less of the stories behind the data at this point,” Córdova said. “I know Denver has definitely said that the new (migrant) students who came during last school year — many of them have stayed in Denver — and that has contributed to their increase in enrollment.”

Colorado schools also saw enrollment growth among Asian, Black, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and multiracial students, with Native Hawaiian students showing the largest increase at 4.72%.

On the other hand, the state saw an overall enrollment decrease of 2.54% for its white student population, and a 4.82% decrease for its American Indian or Alaskan Native population, according to Colorado Department of Education data.

Rising challenges

Colorado schools reported a 10% increase of students with no English proficiency or limited English proficiency, reaching 105,362 students in October 2024. Students with multilingual needs now make up 12% of Colorado public school students.

Though the number of students eligible for free or reduced lunches has declined slightly by just over 2%, they still make up 44.8% of overall enrollment, a historically high rate.

“In the first year of the Healthy School Meals for All Program, which was the 2023-24 school year, the incorporation of Medicaid data raised the at-risk identification to the highest rate in nearly seven years,” Córdova said. “The decrease this year was due in part to the Medicaid recertification rolloff after the end of the federal public health emergency.”

She added that the data reporting may have been impacted by new requirements around participation in the Community Eligibility Provision, which impacted families in 135 school districts.

Colorado public schools also saw a slight 2.5% rise in students experiencing homelessness. The total number of students experiencing homelessness as of October 2024 is 14,498 — just under 2% of students across the state.

The Colorado Department of Education is set to release data on student graduation and dropout rates in late January.

What lower enrollment means for funding

After nearly 30 years of steady increases in student population prior to the pandemic, the state reached a peak for its school-aged population between 2019 and 2020. Colorado’s enrollment numbers have steadily decreased over the last five years, with the exception of a bump in enrollment post-pandemic in 2021, according to an education department news release.

The state is expected to see similar declines until 2028 or 2029, according to a presentation by State Demographer Elizabeth Garner to the State Board of Education in 2024.

“Enrollment data is a big part of education in Colorado, as the number of students is tied directly to how much money our school districts get every year,” Córdova said.

Colorado Gov. Polis’ January budget request proposes to exchange Colorado schools’ four-year enrollment average model for funding to current-year enrollment estimates. This would mean steeper budget cuts for school districts with declining enrollment, whereas the averaging model provides “soft landings” through more foreseeable budgetary changes.

The Joint Budget Committee will determine in the spring whether Polis’ request is implemented.

“Districts, I think, are in a particularly challenging position,” Córdova said. “Many districts are experiencing declining enrollment. I think it will be really challenging for districts to grapple with the potential loss of funding from a move out of averaging, and I think our state has faced a real complexity in, ‘How do we balance the budget while still continuing to invest in the programs that we think are most important?'”