School enrollment during COVID-19: U-M study reveals racial disparities

Student enrollment in districts that provided in-person schooling in fall 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic showed a greater decline among nonwhite students than white students. But in districts that offered virtual learning, the opposite was true, according to a University of Michigan study. The results , published in the journal PNAS, are consistent with the fact that communities of color faced greater risks from COVID-19 and reported less trust in medical and social institutions. "The most likely explanation for our findings is that Black-and to a lesser extent Hispanic-families were more concerned about the health risks associated with in-person schooling than white families,- said Brian Jacob , the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy at U-M. "This is consistent with the fact that nonwhite communities experienced higher mortality rates during COVID and reported less trust in social institutions even prior to the pandemic. The study analyzed enrollment trends in U.S. public schools during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, focusing on public school responses to COVID-19 policies and their impact on differing race/ethnicity groups. Jacob and colleague Micah Baum , U-M doctoral candidate in public policy and economics, found that enrollment decline was greater in districts adopting more strict COVID-19 policies like virtual-only instruction and mask requirements.