SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's public school student population continues to fall, with 15,800 fewer students enrolled in schools this year than last, according to new numbers from the state school board.
The state's public school enrollment peaked in 2022 with 674,800 students. Four years later, that number is just over 640,000.
Even with the decline, Utah still has more children as a proportion of its population than any other state.
Charter schools did not shrink. They grew 2.3% this year. But that growth does not come close to making up for the 3.1% loss in traditional public schools, which have far more students.
One standout change this year was a drop in the number of seniors compared to last year. That decline was expected and confirms the broader enrollment shift, but the drop itself is new. Until now, the senior population had not fallen.