Lincoln Public Schools sees slight decrease in number of students from last year

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Lincoln Public Schools announced on Wednesday the official enrollment, submitted to the Nebraska Department of Education, for the 2025-2026 school year.

As of Oct. 1, there were 41,940 students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade attending LPS. This is a decrease of 342 students from the previous year which reached near-record numbers seen pre-pandemic.

Elementary enrollment declined by 420 students compared to last year, while middle school enrollment remained flat adding only six students and high school enrollment increased slightly by 80 students.

“Initially, what we notice in the data is that larger grade-level cohorts are in the upper grades and graduating out, while smaller grade-level cohorts are entering at the elementary grade levels,” said LPS