Child & Family Policy Lab
Children in Georgia’s Pre-K Program
What are recent trends in children’s enrollment in Georgia’s Pre-K program?
Georgia’s Pre-K Program is an important early childhood education program that is available to all four-year-old children regardless of family income. Enrollment is limited only by the number of slots available, which are funded by Georgia’s state lottery. In this report, we use enrollment data from school year (SY) 2011-12 to SY 2018-19 to study trends in children’s enrollment in Georgia’s Pre-K Program. Over 85,000 children, or 65 percent of all four-year-old children, participated in Georgia’s Pre-K Program in SY 2018-19. Children in Georgia’s Pre-K Program were more likely to be Black and less likely to be White compared to Georgia’s population of four-year-old children. Approximately half of all children in Georgia’s Pre-K Program (or their families) participated in at least one income-based benefit program, although the share declined from 58 percent in SY 2011-12 to 47 percent in SY 2018-19. Children enrolled in rural site locations for Georgia’s Pre-K Program were over twice as likely to attend a public school than children enrolled in a non-rural setting. Conversely, children in a non-rural setting were two to three times more likely to attend a private provider.
To read more, please download the report below.