Enrollment among 4- to 6-year-olds in kindergarten increased from 1977 to 2001. During this period, the proportion of students enrolled in full-day kindergarten increased and by 1995 was larger than the proportion enrolled half day.

Total enrollment in kindergarten among children ages 4–6 increased from 3.2 million in 1977 to 4 million in 1992, before decreasing to 3.7 million in 2001 (see table 3-1). Similarly, the percentage of 4- to 6-year-olds attending kindergarten rose from 1977 to 1992, before declining to 31 percent in 2001. Age 5 was the most common age to be enrolled in kindergarten. Seventy-three percent of all 5-year-olds were enrolled in kindergarten in 2001, compared with 7 percent of 4-year-olds and 13 percent of 6-year-olds (see table 3-2).

Between 1977 and 2001, a shift occurred in the type of kindergarten attended. In 1977, a higher percentage of children attended a half-day than a full-day program (73 vs. 27 percent). By 1995, this distribution had reversed, and in 2001, 40 percent of children ages 4–6 enrolled in kindergarten attended half day, compared with 60 percent attending full day.

In 2001, full-day kindergarten was generally more common than half-day kindergarten throughout different segments of the population. There were some differences in attendance patterns by subgroups, however. For example, children ages 4–6 enrolled in kindergarten in the South were more likely to attend full-day kindergarten (78 percent) than children in the Northeast, Midwest, and West (60, 53, and 43 percent, respectively). Children in the West were the only group in which a higher proportion was enrolled in half-day than in full-day kindergarten (57 vs. 43 percent).

In addition, in 2001, Black kindergartners (76 percent) were more likely than their White (56 percent), Hispanic (60 percent), and Asian/Pacific Islander (57 percent) peers to be enrolled in fullday programs. Children in families with incomes less than $50,000 were more likely to attend full-day kindergarten than children with higher family incomes. The type of school attended was also related to children’s enrollment. Sixty-eight percent of children ages 4–6 enrolled in private kindergartens attended a full-day program, compared with 59 percent of children in public kindergartens.