Nonprofit Preschools Shrink as Transitional Kindergarten Grows in California: Building Capacity to Serve Younger Children

Expanding on earlier research focused on Los Angeles County, this new statewide update from E3C examines how California’s rapid expansion of transitional kindergarten (TK) is reshaping the early learning landscape. TK now serves more than half of the state’s 4-year-olds, representing a major step toward universal access to free preschool. The findings examine how this expansion is affecting the mixed-delivery system, particularly its capacity to serve younger children. The brief highlights both the scale of this progress and the opportunity ahead: strengthening the broader system to ensure infants, toddlers, and 3-year-olds have access to high-quality, affordable care.