California Preschool Enrollment Drops as More Parents Choose Transitional Kindergarten

A new study from the University of Berkeley has found that pre-kindergarten enrollment has not yet recovered from the COVID pandemic, as preschool-aged children are shifting toward transitional kindergarten. Transitional kindergarten programs, which offer state-reimbursed education for children, increased in popularity in the wake of the pandemic, the study found. The study described the options of transitional kindergarten, tuition-charging preschools, and California state preschool programs as a “substitution of one option for another,” but specifically highlighted the growing popularity of transitional kindergarten. In California, transitional kindergarten enrollment increased from 75,000 in 2021 to 125,000 in 2023, per Berkeley’s data. According to California First Five—a state-funded program that provides resources for children from birth to age 5—transitional kindergarten helps prepare preschool-aged kids with school readiness skills....