Virginia Education Statistics 2026: Schools, Enrollment & Spending
Virginia enrolled about 1.209 million public K–12 students in fall 2025, a decrease of 14,939 students from fall 2024. Nearly all of the decline occurred in grades K–5 and 9–12.
Actual operating spending averaged $18,771 per pupil in FY2025. The FY2026 state education assistance appropriation totaled $10.395 billion, with most funding assigned to Standards of Quality programs.
Virginia’s Current Public School Scale
Enrollment, school performance coverage, operating expenditure and state aid use separate official reporting periods.
Where Virginia’s Fall 2025 Enrollment Loss Occurred
Change from fall 2024 by grade band, measured in students.
Grades K–5 and 9–12 accounted for 97.5% of the statewide decline. Middle-grade enrollment was nearly flat by comparison.
Elementary and high school grades carried nearly all of the decline
- Grades 9–12 recorded the largest reduction at 7,326 students.
- Grades K–5 were close behind, declining by 7,240 students.
- Grades 6–8 accounted for only 2.5% of the statewide loss.
Virginia Fall 2025 Enrollment Movement
The table covers every grade-band change published in the March 2026 statewide enrollment projection report.
| Grade span | Student change | Percent change | Share of loss | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades K–5 | −7,240 | −1.3% | 48.5% | Actual fall count comparison |
| Grades 6–8 | −373 | −0.1% | 2.5% | Actual fall count comparison |
| Grades 9–12 | −7,326 | −1.8% | 49.0% | Actual fall count comparison |
| Statewide K–12 | −14,939 | −1.2% | 100.0% | Actual fall count comparison |
The elementary and high school reductions were almost equal
- The grades 9–12 decline exceeded the grades K–5 decline by only 86 students.
- The middle-grade rate changed by −0.1%, compared with −1.8% in high school grades.
- Fall Membership is a September 30 count and is not the same measure as average daily membership used in finance calculations.
Schools, Spending and FY2026 State Aid
Four Virginia-specific modules separate school coverage, operating finance, revenue sources and enacted state assistance.
How Virginia’s 1,812 Rated Schools Were Distributed
Counts reflect schools with enough 2024–25 data for a state performance label. They are not a census of every operating school or program.
| Performance category | Schools | Count-derived share | Coverage note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distinguished | 425 | 23.5% | Sufficient 2024–25 data |
| On Track | 774 | 42.7% | Sufficient 2024–25 data |
| Off Track | 400 | 22.1% | Sufficient 2024–25 data |
| Needs Intensive Support | 213 | 11.8% | Sufficient 2024–25 data |
| Total rated schools | 1,812 | 100.0% | Schools without enough data omitted |
Two-thirds of rated schools were in the two upper categories
- 1,199 schools, or 66.2%, were Distinguished or On Track.
- 613 schools, or 33.8%, were Off Track or Needs Intensive Support.
- The displayed shares are calculated from the published counts and therefore differ slightly from whole-number percentages in the state summary.
Operating Spending Per Student, FY2023–FY2025
Statewide actual operating expenditure per pupil in nominal dollars.
Operating spending per pupil rose in each reported year, from $16,672 in FY2023 to $18,771 in FY2025.
Per-pupil operating expenditure rose 12.6% in two years
- The FY2025 total was $2,099 per pupil above FY2023.
- The one-year increase accelerated from 5.8% in FY2024 to 6.4% in FY2025.
- These are nominal values and are not adjusted for inflation or regional price differences.
| Fiscal year | State | Sales tax | Federal | Local | Total | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | $5,469 | $1,483 | $1,914 | $7,806 | $16,672 | — |
| FY2024 | $6,093 | $1,381 | $1,759 | $8,403 | $17,636 | +5.8% |
| FY2025 | $6,672 | $1,419 | $1,383 | $9,297 | $18,771 | +6.4% |
Local and state support offset a lower federal amount
- Local support increased by $1,491 per pupil between FY2023 and FY2025.
- State support increased by $1,203 per pupil over the same period.
- Federal support decreased by $531 per pupil.
- The revenue-source rows sum to the published total for each fiscal year.
FY2025 Operating Support by Revenue Source
Share of the $18,771 statewide operating expenditure per pupil.
Local revenue supplied 49.5% of FY2025 operating support. State funds and sales tax together supplied 43.1%, while federal funds supplied 7.4%.
The FY2025 revenue mix shifted toward local and state support
- Local support rose by $894 per pupil from FY2024.
- State funds plus sales tax rose by a combined $617 per pupil.
- Federal support fell by $376 per pupil from FY2024.
FY2026 State Education Assistance by Program Group
Enacted appropriations under Virginia Direct Aid to Public Education.
Standards of Quality programs accounted for 83.9% of the $10.395 billion FY2026 appropriation.
Standards of Quality programs dominated the state appropriation
- Standards of Quality programs received $8.722 billion.
- Lottery-funded programs and financial incentives each accounted for about eight percent of the total.
- The categorical program group represented 0.6% of the appropriation.
- Appropriations are budget authority and should not be read as final FY2026 expenditure.
| Program group | FY2026 amount | Share | Measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standards of Quality | $8,721,616,902 | 83.9% | Enacted appropriation |
| Financial Incentive Programs | $756,596,388 | 7.3% | Enacted appropriation |
| Categorical Programs | $63,918,831 | 0.6% | Enacted appropriation |
| Lottery Funds | $852,926,201 | 8.2% | Enacted appropriation |
| Total State Education Assistance | $10,395,058,322 | 100.0% | Enacted appropriation |
The four program groups reconcile to the enacted total
- The listed program groups sum to $10,395,058,322.
- Lottery Funds exceeded Financial Incentive Programs by $96.3 million.
- State aid formulas commonly use average daily membership rather than the September Fall Membership count.
Selected FY2026 Standards of Quality Components
The selected lines show the largest and most recognizable components within the $8.722 billion program group. They do not form a complete list of every line item.
| Component | FY2026 amount | Share of SOQ | Funding role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Aid | $4,520,122,320 | 51.8% | Core formula support |
| Sales Tax | $1,780,100,000 | 20.4% | Dedicated distribution |
| Special Education | $526,268,049 | 6.0% | Program and staffing support |
| Textbooks | $107,777,357 | 1.2% | Instructional materials |
| Vocational Education | $94,007,303 | 1.1% | Career and technical programs |
| Gifted Education | $43,893,312 | 0.5% | Gifted program support |
Basic Aid and Sales Tax make up most of the selected formula funding
- Basic Aid alone represented 51.8% of the full Standards of Quality appropriation.
- Basic Aid and Sales Tax together represented 72.2% of that program group.
- The six displayed components total about $7.072 billion, or 81.1% of the program group.
Fall 2025 Actual Enrollment
About 1.209 million public K–12 students were enrolled. The count was 53,417 below the fall 2019 level.
Fall 2030 Projection
Enrollment is projected at about 1.172 million, a decrease of 36,827 students or 3.0% from fall 2025.
Grade 12 Projection
Twelfth-grade enrollment is projected to fall by 5,614 students, or 5.8%, between fall 2025 and fall 2030.
Virginia’s enrollment outlook remains downward through 2030
- The projected five-year loss is more than twice the one-year fall 2025 decline.
- The projection uses recent grade-progression patterns and should not be treated as a final future count.
What the Virginia Data Shows
The figures describe system scale, finance structure and reporting coverage without assigning causes to the observed changes.
Enrollment Fell While Per-Pupil Spending Rose
Fall enrollment declined in 2025 while nominal operating expenditure per pupil increased in FY2025. The published datasets do not isolate how much of the spending movement reflects compensation, service mix, inflation or fixed operating costs.
Local Revenue Remains Central
Local funds supplied nearly half of statewide FY2025 operating support per pupil. Division-level shares vary because local tax capacity, required local effort and state formula calculations differ across Virginia.
School Labels Have a Defined Coverage
The 1,812-school distribution includes only schools with enough 2024–25 data for a state performance label. The labels are separate from the operational accreditation status used for the 2025–26 school year.
Operating and Capital Costs Are Separate
The per-pupil operating measure includes regular day school and other operating programs. It excludes facilities, debt service and capital outlay additions, so it does not represent total school construction or long-term infrastructure spending.
State Aid Uses Local Ability-to-Pay
Virginia’s Composite Index of Local Ability-to-Pay helps determine state and local shares of formula funding. It measures fiscal capacity rather than school quality and helps explain why similar enrollment counts do not produce equal state aid.
Data Sources and Measurement
Virginia Department of Education, 2025–26 Fall Membership. Public enrollment is reported as of September 30.
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, Virginia School Enrollment Projections 2026–2030, published March 18, 2026. The model covers 131 school divisions and uses recent grade-progression ratios.
Virginia Department of Education, Superintendent’s Annual Report, Table 15, FY2023 through FY2025. FY2025 data were published in May 2026 from division financial submissions.
Commonwealth of Virginia enacted budget, Direct Aid to Public Education, Item 125, FY2026. Values are appropriations rather than final expenditures.
Virginia 2024–25 school performance results summarized by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission in December 2025. A small number of schools without enough data are omitted.
Virginia reports local public systems as school divisions. Finance files may combine jointly operated systems under a fiscal agent for expenditure reporting.
Dollar values are nominal. Per-pupil operating values use average daily membership, not September Fall Membership. Displayed percentages are rounded to one decimal place, and displayed billions are rounded to three decimals. Count-derived school shares may differ from official whole-number percentages because the counts are used as the calculation base.
Fall 2025 enrollment is an actual September 30 student count. FY2025 spending is actual operating expenditure per average daily member. FY2026 state aid is an enacted appropriation. Fall 2030 enrollment is a projection. These measures do not share one reporting period or one student denominator and should not be combined into a single rate.