Mississippi Ranks 29th Nationally, Meets All 10 NIEER Pre-K Quality Benchmarks
Summary
The Mississippi Department of Education announced that Mississippi now ranks 29th in the nation for preschool enrollment of 4-year-olds, up from 31st, based on NIEER's 2025 State of Preschool Yearbook. Mississippi is one of only six states to meet all 10 of NIEER's recommended benchmarks for preschool quality, which measure teacher qualifications, class sizes, early learning standards, and program assessments. In the 2024-2025 school year, Mississippi's state-funded pre-K programs enrolled 8,076 children, an increase of 931 from the prior year, with state spending totaling $39,017,901, up 20% adjusted for inflation.
“Mississippi is one of only six states in the nation to meet all 10 of NIEER's recommended benchmarks for preschool quality.”
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What changed
The Mississippi Department of Education released findings from the National Institute for Early Education Research's 2025 State of Preschool Yearbook showing Mississippi improved from 31st to 29th nationally for preschool enrollment of 4-year-olds. The state met all 10 of NIEER's research-based quality standards benchmarks for the second consecutive year, joining Georgia, Alabama, Hawaii, Michigan, and Rhode Island as the only states to achieve this distinction. The report found Mississippi's state-funded pre-K programs enrolled 8,076 children in 2024-2025, a gain of 931 children, with per-child spending reaching $4,832 including federal recovery funds.
For state education administrators and policymakers, the report provides comparative context for Mississippi's pre-K investment levels and outcomes relative to peer states. Mississippi served 23% of its 4-year-olds in state-funded pre-K in 2024-2025, compared to Alabama at 40%, Arkansas at 33%, and Louisiana at 35%. The state shifted funding from State-Invested Programs to Early Learning Collaboratives during 2024, increasing per-seat funding from $2,500 to $3,500 while maintaining program quality standards. This data may inform discussions about expanding access to reach a greater percentage of eligible children.
Archived snapshot
Apr 23, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release: April 22, 2026
Mississippi recognized for expanding quality Pre-K in 2025 NIEER report
JACKSON, Miss. – The National Institute for Early Education Research’s (NIEER) 2025 State of Preschool Yearbook report released today finds that Mississippi now ranks 29th in the nation for preschool enrollment of 4-year-olds, up from 31st in last year’s report.
Mississippi is one of only six states in the nation to meet all 10 of NIEER’s recommended benchmarks for preschool quality. The other states are Georgia, Alabama, Hawaii, Michigan, and Rhode Island. NIEER’s benchmarks measure essential preschool quality indicators, including teacher qualifications, class sizes, early learning standards, and program assessments.
The NIEER 2025 State of Preschool Yearbook presents a critical snapshot of preschool education in America. Currently, 44 states and Washington, D.C. fund preschool programs. Most state pre-K programs continue to primarily or only serve 4-year-olds. Nationally, enrollment reached 37% of 4-year-olds but only 9% of 3-year-olds.
In Mississippi the report found that in the 2024-2025 school year:
- Mississippi’s state-funded pre-K programs enrolled 8,076 children, an increase of 931 from the prior year
- State spending totaled $39,017,901, and an additional $4,394 in federal recovery funds supported the program, up $6,638,190 (20%), adjusted for inflation, since last year.
- State spending per child (including federal recovery funds) equaled $4,832 in 2024-2025, up $299 from 2023-2024 adjusted for inflation.
- Mississippi preschool met 10 of 10 research-based quality standards benchmarks recommended by NIEER. “Mississippi continues to see rewarding outcomes for ongoing investments in providing quality education for the state’s youngest children,” said Dr. Lance Evans, state superintendent of education. “Expanding children’s access to quality preschool programs supports long-term academic success.”
Mississippi served 23% of its 4-year-olds in state-funded pre-K in 2024-2025, while Alabama served 40%, Arkansas served 33%, and Louisiana served 35%. Mississippi’s pre-K program does not serve 3-year-olds. However, when including enrollment in Head Start and other types of pre-K programs, the total percentage of Mississippi 4-year-olds enrolled in pre-K last school year was 55%.
Nationally, state support for preschool education hit record highs in enrollment and funding in 2024-2025, but the pace of growth slowed compared to the previous year and quality remains highly uneven from state to state. States spent nearly $14.4 billion on preschool in 2024-2025. Twenty-eight states increased their investments in preschool from the prior year, for a total increase of $434 million, or 3%, adjusted for inflation.
In 2024, Mississippi shifted funding from State-Invested Programs (SIP) to Early Learning Collaboratives (ELC), with level funding overall across the two programs. The funding was shifted because the ELC program reaches more children due to the mixed delivery model, while SIP is based only in public school classrooms. With the additional funding, the ELC program increased the funding per seat from $2,500 to $3,500 during the 2024-25 school year. However, despite the decrease in funding for SIP, program quality standards remained consistent.
During the 2024-2025 school year, the state changed the requirements for teacher assistants to assist with recruitment and retention. Going forward, teacher assistants must possess a high school diploma/GED, verification of WorkKeys scores, and 12 hours early childhood credit hours, or they must have a certificate of completion of an early childhood training program, pre-K Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, a Montessori certification, or an equivalent certification.
Additional information about the 2025 State of Preschool Yearbook, including individual state profiles and maps, graphs, and state rankings, can be found at nieer.org.
Find all MDE news releases at mdek12.org/news.
The 2025 State of Preschool Yearbook was supported with funding from the Heising-Simons Foundation and the Gates Foundation.
The National Institute for Early Education Research at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, New Brunswick, NJ, supports early childhood education policy and practice through independent, objective research and the translation of research to policy and practice.
Jean Cook, APR
Chief of Communication
601-359-3515
jcook@mdek12.org
Shanderia Minor
Public Information Officer
601-359-3515
sminor@mdek12.org
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