Table 1.3. Types of state and district requirements for kindergarten entrance and attendance, by state: 2020

Compiles and disseminates data on state education practice activities

State	Compulsory school age		Kindergarten entrance age		State requires district to offer full-day kindergarten program		State requires district to offer half-day kindergarten program		State requires kindergarten attendance
United States	†		†		21	¹	25	¹	20	¹

Alabama	6		5 on or before 9/1		Yes		No		No
Alaska	7		5 on or before 9/1		No		No		No
Arizona	6		5 on or before 8/31		No		Yes		No
Arkansas	5		5 on or before 8/1		Yes		No		Yes
California	6		5 on or before 9/1		No		Yes		No

Colorado	6		5 on or before 10/1		Yes		No		No
Connecticut	5		5 on or before 1/1		No		Yes		Yes
Delaware	5		5 on or before 8/31		Yes		No		Yes
District of Columbia	5		5 on or before 9/30		Yes		No		Yes
Florida	6		5 on or before 9/1		†		†		No

Georgia	6		5 by 9/1		No		Yes		No
Hawaii	5		5 on or before 7/31		Yes		No		Yes
Idaho	7		5 on or before 9/1		No		No		No
Illinois	6		5 on or before 9/1		Yes	²	Yes	²	No
Indiana	7		5 on or before 8/1		Yes	²	Yes	²	No

Iowa	6	³	5 by 9/15		No		Yes		†
Kansas	7		5 on or before 8/31		No		Yes		†
Kentucky	6		5 on or before 7/31		No		Yes		No
Louisiana	7		5 by 9/30		Yes		No		Yes	⁴
Maine	6		5 on or before 10/15		No		Yes		†

Maryland	5		5 by 9/1		Yes		No		Yes
Massachusetts	6		Each district may establish its own minimum permissible age for school attendance		No		Yes		†
Michigan	6		5 by 9/1		No		No		No
Minnesota	7		5 on or before 9/1		No		No		No
Mississippi	6		5 on or before 9/1		Yes		No		†

Missouri	7	⁵	5 on or before 7/31	⁶	No		Yes		No
Montana	7		5 on or before 9/10		Yes	²	Yes	²	No
Nebraska	6		5 on or before 9/30		No		Yes		Yes	⁷
Nevada	7		5 on or before 9/30		No		Yes		Yes
New Hampshire	6		Not specified in statute or regulation		No		No		No

New Jersey	6		Local education agency (LEA) option	⁸	No		No		No	⁹
New Mexico	5		5 on or before 9/1		No		Yes		Yes
New York	6		LEA option	¹⁰	No		No		No
North Carolina	7		5 on or before 8/31		Yes		No		No	¹¹
North Dakota	7		5 on or before 7/31		No		Yes		No

Ohio	6		LEA option	¹²	No		Yes		Yes
Oklahoma	5		5 on or before 9/1		Yes		No		Yes	¹³
Oregon	6		5 on or before 9/1		No		Yes		No
Pennsylvania	6		LEA option	¹⁴	No		No		Yes
Rhode Island	5		5 on or before 9/1		Yes		No		Yes

South Carolina	5		5 on or before 9/1		Yes		No		Yes
South Dakota	5		5 on or before 9/1		No		Yes		Yes
Tennessee	6		5 on or before 8/15		Yes		No		Yes
Texas	6		5 on or before 9/1		Yes	²	Yes	²	No
Utah	6		5 on or before 9/1		No		Yes		No

Vermont	6		5	¹⁵	No		Yes		No
Virginia	5		5 on or before 9/30		Yes		No		Yes
Washington	8		5 on or before 8/31		Yes		No		No
West Virginia	6		5 on or before 8/31	¹⁶	Yes		No		Yes
Wisconsin	6		5 on or before 9/1	¹⁷	No		Yes		Yes	¹⁸

Wyoming	7		5 on or before 9/15		No		Yes	¹⁹	†

† Not applicable.

¹The total reflects the number of "Yes" responses in the column.

²Districts must offer either full-day or half-day kindergarten. In Texas, this is an option for a school district's board of trustees.

³ Children who are 4 or 5 years old and enrolled in a school district are considered to be compulsory attendance age unless a parent or legal guardian notifies the school district in writing of their intent to remove their child from enrollment.

⁴Or children must otherwise satisfactorily pass an academic readiness screening upon enrollment in grade 1.

⁵ A child between ages 5 and 7 can be excused from school attendance if a parent or guardian makes a written request that the child be dropped from the school’s rolls.

⁶ Metropolitan districts can establish a policy that a child must be 5 on or before any date between August 1 and October 1.

⁷ Or children must otherwise be assessed as prepared to enter grade 1.

⁸ Districts may admit children ages 4 and 5, and they must admit children ages 5 to 6. The cutoff date must be after October 1.

⁹Children are required to attend full-day kindergarten in the Abbott Districts.

¹⁰Students must be between the ages of 4 and 6.

¹¹The initial entry point into school is kindergarten, but a principal may override this for an exceptionally mature student and place the child in grade 1.

¹² Districts may adopt a resolution establishing August 1 instead of September 30 as the required date by which students must have attained a specified age.

¹³ Minimum half-day attendance.

¹⁴ Students must be between the ages of 4 and 6. Minimum age for kindergarten entrance is 4 years 7 months before the first day of the school year.

¹⁵ LEA may require students admitted to kindergarten to attain the age of 5 on or before August 31 and January 1.

¹⁶ Beginning in the 2018–19 school year, districts must offer prekindergarten to all children who are 4 years old before July 1.

¹⁷ Kindergarten entrance age is 5 on or before September 1 for 5-year-old kindergarten or 4 on or before September 1 for 4-year-old kindergarten.

¹⁸ Children must attend in districts that offer kindergarten.

¹⁹ The state requires that LEAs offer half-day kindergarten. School districts must establish and maintain relationships with a district that offers one full-day kindergarten.

SOURCE: Education Commission of the States, 50-State Comparison: State K-3 Policies, retrieved December 28, 2020, from https://www.ecs.org/kindergarten-policies/, and 50-State Comparison: Free and Compulsory School Age Requirements, retrieved December 28, 2020, from https://www.ecs.org/50-state-comparison-free-and-compulsory-school-age-requirements/. Data Source.

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