ALBANY, NY (April 29, 2025) — Public school enrollment in New York state has nearly stabilized in the 2024-25 school year, with a decline of just 0.2%, or 5,653 students, according to a preliminary report from the Empire Center for Public Policy. This marks a significant slowdown from the previous year’s 1.8% drop, largely attributed to a surge of foreign immigrants in New York City.
The report, based on data from the New York State Education Department, shows total public school enrollment at 2,413,405 students across 4,445 schools. New York City, which accounts for 37% of the state’s public school students, saw a modest increase of 0.9%, or 8,174 students, reaching 885,337. This uptick follows a 2.2% decline the previous year and is linked to the arrival of approximately 37,000 migrant children since spring 2022.
“New York City’s slight enrollment increase appears to be driven by the recent wave of immigration,” said Abdullah Ar Rafee, a research assistant at the Empire Center and author of the report. “Without this influx, the city’s numbers would likely have continued to decline.”
Outside New York City, enrollment trends varied. The state’s “Big Four” city school districts—Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers—experienced a combined drop of 1.9%, or 2,093 students. Buffalo saw the steepest decline at 3.5%, losing 1,109 students, while Yonkers gained 0.6%, or 139 students. Other regions, including Long Island, the Mid-Hudson Valley, and Western New York, saw declines ranging from 0.1% to 0.9%.
Charter schools statewide continued to grow, with enrollment rising 2.5% to 154,135 students, a gain of 3,781 students. New York City charter schools led this trend, increasing by 3.2%, or 3,770 students, to 120,756. In contrast, non-New York City charter schools saw a slight decline of 0.3%, or 111 students.
The stabilization follows a decades-long decline, with statewide enrollment down 17% since 2000, a loss of nearly half a million students. The Empire Center noted that while migrant arrivals have slowed the decline in New York City, broader demographic trends, including lower birth rates and outmigration, continue to challenge enrollment statewide.
The full report is available at the Empire Center’s website, empirecenter.org.
This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.