Palmetto State Education Coverage, Driven by Data
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Students who are currently homeless in SC have a 48.7% chronic absenteeism rate that has barely budged in four years, while students in foster care are getting worse.
The Charter Institute at Erskine grew from 8,450 to 28,376 students in seven years, becoming SC's sixth-largest district.
Cherokee County's Black-white chronic absenteeism gap went from 12.3 to 2.5 percentage points, the largest closure among SC districts averaging 5,000 to 10,000 students.
Morningside Middle, Baptist Hill Middle High and Beaufort Elementary posted the state's second-, third- and fourth-largest one-year declines in school chronic absenteeism. The data show the outcomes, not their cause.
SC's recovery from its chronic absenteeism peak is decelerating. The state's Be Present S.C. campaign and Charleston's $25/week incentive pilot represent divergent bets on what works.
Abbeville County is 72% economically disadvantaged, yet its 16.3% chronic rate beats Dorchester Two, Richland Two, and most affluent SC districts.
Hispanic enrollment in SC nearly doubled in 11 years, from 60,023 to 116,754. Without that growth, the state would have lost students.
Colleton, Darlington, Fairfield, McCormick, Marion, and Williamsburg have lost a combined 8,634 students since 2015. All six are at all-time lows.
After fully recovering from COVID and reaching a peak of 796,780 students, South Carolina lost 7,694 in a single year. The 800,000 milestone will not be reached.
South Carolina crossed the majority-minority threshold in 2019 and the shift is accelerating, driven by a 94.5% surge in Hispanic enrollment and a 14.9% drop in Black students.
SCDE releases 2025-26 enrollment data showing 789,086 students statewide, down 7,694 from a record high, the first non-COVID decline in a decade.