Mississippi recognized for expanding quality Pre-K in new report from NIEER

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:  April 29, 2025

Mississippi recognized for expanding quality Pre-K in new report from NIEER

JACKSON, Miss. – The National Institute for Early Education Research’s (NIEER) 2024 State of Preschool Yearbook report released today finds that Mississippi now ranks 31st in the nation for preschool enrollment of 4-year-olds, up from 35th in last year’s report.

Mississippi also remains one of only five states in the country to meet all 10 of NIEER’s recommended benchmarks for preschool quality. NIEER’s benchmarks measure essential preschool quality indicators, including teacher qualifications, class sizes, early learning standards, and program assessments.

The NIEER 2024 State of Preschool Yearbook presents a critical snapshot of preschool education in America. The 2023-2024 school year set national records for state-funded preschool enrollment and spending. Currently, 44 states and Washington, D.C. fund preschool programs. Most state pre-K programs continue to primarily or only serve 4-year-olds. Nationally, enrollment reached 37% of 4-year-olds but only 8% of 3-year-olds.

In Mississippi the report found that in the 2023-2024 school year:

• Mississippi’s state-funded pre-K programs enrolled 7,145 children, an increase of 1,816 from the prior year as the state began the State Invested Pre-Kindergarten (SIP) Program.
• State spending totaled $30,542,900, and an additional $1,251,287 in federal recovery funds supported the program, up $14,395,473 (83%), adjusted for inflation, since last year.
• State spending per child (including federal recovery funds) equaled $4,450 in 2023-2024, up $1,185 from 2022-2023 adjusted for inflation.
• Both of Mississippi’s pre-K programs (SIPs and Early Learning Collaboratives) met 10 of 10 research-based quality benchmarks recommended by NIEER.

“Providing a quality education for our state’s youngest children is essential to academic achievement,” said Dr. Lance Evans, state superintendent of education. “Mississippi continues to be a national leader in this area, and we are thankful for the state’s financial commitment to ensuring the success continues.”

Mississippi served 20% of its 4-year-olds in state-funded pre-K in 2023-2024, while Alabama served 41%, Arkansas served 32%, and Louisiana served 34%. Mississippi’s pre-K program does not serve 3-year-olds. However, when including enrollment in Head Start and other types of pre-K programs, the total percentage of Mississippi 4-year-olds enrolled in pre-K last school year was 61%. This is an increase from 52% the previous year.

Preschool investments increased in all but five states with existing programs. Six states — California, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Texas — each boosted preschool spending by more than $100 million.

Enrollment grew to 1,750,995 children nationwide, an increase of more than 111,000 from the previous year. Nine states saw enrollment growth exceeding 20%: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Ohio. California and Colorado alone added more than 30,000 children each, together accounting for over 60% of the national enrollment increase.

Alabama, Hawaii, Michigan, Mississippi, and Rhode Island remain the only states nationwide to meet all 10 of NIEER’s recommended benchmarks for preschool quality.

A key question across the country is how the Trump Administration’s proposed cuts to the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and other federal agencies will affect Head Start and other programs for children. If Head Start funding for children in low-income families is eliminated, access to public preschool will decline in several states by more than 10 percentage points, and in some, by 20 percentage points.

“Nearly 15,000 3- and 4-year-olds in Mississippi could lose access to Head Start if federal funding for the program is eliminated. State pre-k in Mississippi, particularly the Early Learning Collaboratives which rely on Head Start partnerships, could also be jeopardized,” said Allison Friedman-Krauss, Ph.D., lead author of the report. “Increased uncertainty about federal funding underscores the urgency for states to prioritize and expand early childhood investments.”

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The 2024 State of Preschool Yearbook was supported with funding from the Heising-Simons Foundation and the Gates Foundation. For more information and detailed state-by-state profiles on quality, access, and funding, please visit https://nieer.org/.

The National Institute for Early Education Research at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, New Brunswick, NJ, supports early childhood education policy and practice through independent, objective research and the translation of research to policy and practice.

 

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