In 2025, 22.6 Percent of Students Missed 10 Percent or More of the School Year, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Found

Nearly a quarter of U.S. students were chronically absent from school last year in what researchers called an "ominous" trend for the education system. In 2025, 22.6 percent of students missed 10 percent or more of the school year, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) found. That's down from a high of 28.3 percent in 2022, during the peak of the Covid pandemic, but chronic absenteeism remains above pre-pandemic levels — and gains in stopping it appear to be slowing with each passing year.

AEI called the trend "an ominous slowdown that should be met with urgent action, not ignominious acceptance. Chronic absenteeism can cause a host of problems. "Missing school means missing valuable instructional time and poses serious implications for students' overall academic success and wellbeing, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

"Research suggests that children who are chronically absent for multiple years between preschool and second grade are much less likely to read at grade level by the third grade. Alaska, Washington, D.C., Oregon and New Mexico had the highest absenteeism rates, AEI found, while New Jersey, Virginia and Alabama had the lowest. The phenomenon tends to be clustered in historically disadvantaged districts, the think tank notes.

In Illinois, for example, the general chronic absenteeism rate was about 25 percent last year, while 31 percent of low-income students were chronically absent and nearly 40 percent of Black students were. Educators across the country have been trying different strategies to get students back to class. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where 32 percent of students were chronically absent last year, an organization called A+ Schools has been reaching out directly to families, offering supplies and transportation as school gets back underway. "Today is about bridging that gap, going and knocking on doors, letting folks know about what's available at the school to help them out, James Fogarty with A+ Schools told CBS Pittsburgh.