California Preschool Enrollment Drops as More Parents Choose Transitional Kindergarten

The program for 4-year-olds is usually a full day of school-readiness activities. Parents can use a voucher to choose their location.

A kindergartener at McKinley Elementary School on March 7, 2015, in Compton, Calif. Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Nickelodeon

A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, has found that pre-kindergarten enrollment has not yet recovered from the COVID pandemic, as preschool-aged children are shifting toward transitional kindergarten.

Transitional kindergarten programs, which offer state-reimbursed education for children, increased in popularity in the wake of the pandemic, the study found.