Superintendent Arntzen Releases Preliminary Fall Enrollment Numbers

• Brian O'Leary
• December 01 2022

HELENA- State Superintendent Elsie Arntzen released Montana's preliminary fall 2022 student enrollment numbers for public schools, private schools, and homeschools today. The Office of Public Instruction must collect enrollment data from Montana school districts every October and February according to § 20-9-311, MCA. The public school enrollment data are part of the Average Number Belonging (ANB) calculation for school funding.

“The focus of education is parallel to the increase in enrollment of our public, private, and homeschool enrollment,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “The emphasis on the basics of math and reading and seeking innovative education solutions are needed now more than ever. Revising our state math and reading content standards, creating math innovation zones, reimaging student testing with the MAST pilot program, and offering more professional development for teachers in math and reading will ensure that our Montana students achieve educational excellence.”

Montana’s preliminary student enrollment counts for Fall 2022 are as follows:

• Combined preliminary public, private, and homeschool enrollment is the highest in 21 years, with 166,251 students.
• Montana’s preliminary public school enrollment increased by 0.5%, from 149,198 to 149,879 students. This is the highest public school enrollment in 19 years.
• Montana’s preliminary private school enrollment increased by 0.3%, from 8,634 to 8,659. This is the second-highest private school enrollment in the last 20 years, with 2007-2008 being the highest.
• Montana’s preliminary homeschool enrollment increased by 4.7%, from 7,368 to 7,716. This is the second-highest homeschool enrollment in 30 years, with 2020-2021 being the highest.
• This year is Montana’s second-highest preliminary nonpublic enrollment since the 1990-1991 school year. There are 16,372 students, an increase of 2.3% from last year’s enrollment of 16,002 students. The 2020-2021 school year was the highest nonpublic enrollment with 17,468 students.

This data is considered preliminary and may change slightly over the next few weeks as school districts have until December 31^st to change or certify their data.