Toys for Textbooks: At What Age Are Children Required to Attend School in Missouri?
By : Courtney Vahle, Ed.D.
Published On: May 2, 2025
A recent poll suggests that likely Missouri voters favor requiring all six-year-olds to attend school. Missouri—along with 14 other states—does not require this.
The age at which students are required to begin formal schooling is decided at the state level. The accompanying map of the United States (created with data from the National Center for Education Statistics) shows that while 6 is the most common required age for school attendance, there are 15 states (including Missouri) that do not require children to be enrolled in school until age 7 (or even age 8 in Washington and Pennsylvania).
In February 2025, likely Missouri voters were asked two questions on the same policy: whether they favored a policy that 6-year-olds must attend school and whether Missouri already had such a policy in place. Nine in ten respondents favored such a policy and nearly 70% thought the policy was already in place. Of note, this support was consistent across party, age, and race lines and was even more highly supported among likely voters with higher levels of education.
According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Missouri statute (section 167.031, RSMo) requires that school attendance begin at age 7. However, if a parent decides to enroll a student between the age of 5 and 7 in school, a parent or guardian is required to ensure “regular attendance”.
Despite this, a cursory glance of the public school enrollment data suggests that many if not most Missouri students do attend Kindergarten. Since 2000, the increase in statewide enrollment in Kindergarten one year to 1st Grade the next has been less than 1500 students. While a closer district-by-district glance may reveal more nuance, and may help account for Missouri’s high rate of mobility and overall enrollment decline, we can infer that many first grade students participated in Kindergarten.
Missouri students are eligible to begin Kindergarten when they turn 5 before August of the school year beginning that calendar year. Likewise, students may enter first grade if they turn 6 before August of the intended enrollment year or if they have completed Kindergarten.
To read more about voter opinions on education issues from our most recent poll, see our policy brief here.
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A recent poll suggests that Missourians across party, age, and education lines favor requiring all six-year-olds to attend school. Missouri—along with 14 other states—does not require this.