Closed schools

Question:
How many public schools in the United States have closed?

Response:

In 2021–22, there were 755 school closures, including 571 regular schools, 71 special education schools, 7 vocational schools, and 106 alternative schools.

Number and enrollment of public elementary and secondary schools that have closed, by school level, type, and charter status: School years 2010–11 through 2021–22
School level, type, and charter status	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22
Total, all schools	1,741	1,692	1,394	1,644	1,336	1,070	1,068	1,310	1,122	1,130	865	755
School type
Regular	1,352	1,274	986	1,124	974	823	709	889	876	827	684	571
Special education	72	81	82	87	61	30	66	217	42	129	49	71
Vocational	6	12	68	18	23	14	9	13	24	22	11	7
Alternative1	311	325	258	415	278	203	284	191	180	152	121	106
School level
Prekindergarten	53	50	33	47	27	22	31	74	59	76	45	35
Elementary	759	725	587	601	482	450	390	492	410	457	362	324
Middle	261	277	185	240	248	192	184	217	194	175	149	133
Secondary and high	428	458	443	497	437	317	343	387	315	244	248	171
Other, ungraded, and not applicable/not reported	240	182	146	259	142	89	120	140	144	178	61	92
All charter schools2	157	185	153	232	206	236	181	247	215	235	179	89
Prior year enrollment of schools that have closed
Total, enrollment	321,246	300,764	240,704	269,615	211,472	194,653	185,714	266,777	231,206	214,278	165,474	167,575

¹ Includes schools that provide nontraditional education, address needs of students that typically cannot be met in regular schools, serve as adjuncts to regular schools, or fall outside the categories of regular, special education, or vocational education.
² Charter schools are also included under the school level and type categories, as appropriate.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This table indicates the school year by which the school no longer operated (it closed between that school year and the prior school year). The closure of a school does not necessarily mean that a building is no longer used for educational purposes. A single school may share a building with another school, or one school may be housed in several buildings.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). Table 216.95. Number and enrollment of public elementary and secondary schools that have closed, by school level, type, and charter status: School years 2010–11 through 2021–22 [Data table]. In Digest of education statistics. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved October 3, 2023, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d22/tables/dt22_216.95.asp.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2023, Digest of Education Statistics 2022, Table 203.10. Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by level and grade: Selected years, fall 1980 through fall 2030
  
• 2023, Nonfiscal Data Tables, Table 1. Operational and student membership status of public elementary and secondary schools and agencies in the United States, by type: School year 2021–22
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2023, Common Core of Data (CCD): These tables present the school, enrollment, and teacher counts reported at the school level aggregated by various school characteristics including state, district, metro-area, city, charter status, and operational status.