More kids than ever are attending state-funded preschool, with California’s surge leading the way

State-funded preschool enrollment in the U.S. reached a record 1.8 million children in 2025-2026, driven by California's expansion of universal preschool access. California added 25,000 students to its transitional kindergarten (TK) program but met only two of ten quality benchmarks, highlighting challenges in scaling early education programs.