The Iowa Department of Education has released 2025 fall certified enrollment numbers for public school districts, as well as numbers reflecting additional options families have chosen, which include open enrollment to a public school outside a family’s resident district, public charter schools and accredited nonpublic schools.

Total fall 2025 certified enrollment for all Iowa public and accredited nonpublic schools was 515,221, down from 520,021 last year. The department attributed declining K-12 enrollment to a national trend driven by lower birth rates and fewer students progressing from grade to grade. Public school district and public charter school certified enrollment—nearly 92% of Iowa’s total certified enrollment—declined slightly to 473,329, a decrease of 1.53%. 

State projections developed prior to the passing of the Students First Education Savings Account (ESA) program, showed a downward trend in public school enrollment starting in the 2023-2024 school year. Likewise, the National Center for Education Statistics projects enrollment at public schools to decrease by 2.7 million students by 2031, a decrease of almost 5% nationally.

At many area districts, certified enrollment slightly dropped over the past year. At Clayton Ridge, for example, certified enrollment came in at 625.1 for 2025-2026, down from 638 a year ago, according to Department of Education statistics. Central Community School District saw a slim decrease from 456.1 to 452.3, while Postville and Starmont saw a bigger drop. Postville went from 738.5 to 704.5 over the past year and Starmont from 540 to 527.9.

Edgewood-Colesburg and MFL MarMac had slight certified enrollment increases from a year ago, with Ed-Co growing from 378 to 382 and MFL MarMac from 994.9 to 800.1.

According to the Department of Education, while a majority of Iowa families chose to send their child to their neighborhood public school in 2025, more than one out of six students selected other school choice options available through open enrollment to a public school outside a family’s resident district, public charter schools and accredited nonpublic schools.

More than 44,500 public school students open enrolled in another public school outside their home district, representing about 9% of total 2025 certified enrollment. 

Additionally, certified enrollment at Iowa accredited nonpublic schools was 41,892, up from 39,356 last year, representing just over 8% of total 2025 certified enrollment. 

Enrollment at public charter schools was 1,172, representing less than 1% of total 2025 certified enrollment. A total of 41,044 participants used their Students First ESA at an accredited nonpublic school as of the Oct. 1 certified enrollment date.

A breakdown of public school districts that have students choosing a public school option other than their residentially assigned public school is as follows:

• No districts had fewer than 10 students choosing to open enroll to another public district or public charter.

• 64.6% of districts (n=210) had 11 to 99 students choosing to open enroll to another public district or public charter.

• 35.4% of districts (n=115) had 100 or more students who open enrolled to another public district or public charter.

At area schools, Central has 41 students open enrolling into the district and 56.9 open enrolling out, while MFL MarMac has 37 coming in and 42 out. Postville’s numbers are at 20 in and 47.6 out and Starmont is at 45.2 in and 91.9 out. Ed-Co has 114 students open enrolling in and 36 out. 

Department of Education statistics show 55 students open enrolling out of Clayton Ridge, down from 72 a year ago, while 1,631 are coming in, reflective of Iowa Virtual Academy enrollment.

A breakdown of public school districts that have ESA participants who reside within their district boundaries is as follows:

• 11.1% of districts (n=36) had no ESA students living within their district boundaries.

• 34.2% of districts (n=111) had one to 10 ESA students living within their district boundaries.

• 32.6% of districts (n=106) had 11 to 99 ESA students living within their district boundaries.

• 22.2% of districts (n=72) had 100 or more ESA students living within their boundaries.

The number of participants using their ESA differs from the total number of applications that were approved by the Sept. 30 program close date. Some participants withdrew prior to the Oct. 1 certified enrollment date and others had an approved ESA but did not use it.

According to the Iowa Department of Education, Central has no resident students using an ESA, while Clayton Ridge has 10, Ed-Co 17, MFL MarMac four, Postville 85 and Starmont five.

The certified enrollment count is a snapshot in time, taken on the first day of October every year or the following Monday if the first falls on a weekend. Certified enrollment is used to determine funding for public schools and differs slightly from the actual headcount of students enrolled. Certified enrollment in October of any given year drives funding for the next fiscal year. Fall 2025 numbers will be used to determine public school funding for the 2026-27 school year.

Certified enrollment for 2025-26 by public school district and accredited nonpublic school, including the number of ESA students by resident school district, is available on the PK-12 Education Statistics page of the department’s website under “Public School Certified Enrollment by District” and “Nonpublic School Certified Enrollment.”