Children’s development and educational success hinges upon a myriad of factors, including prekindergarten participation, the adequacy of school funding, and the challenges and needs of the student and youth population. Educational attainment levels are associated with greater earnings and standard of living, and the rate of students pursuing further education also provides an indirect measure of the strength of the high schools. In Lancaster County, pre-kindergarten enrollment and school spending have both increased while the number of youth pursuing higher education has decreased. 

Prekindergarten helps prepare children both socially and academically for school, and can be especially important for low-income children who tend to be exposed to a less rich vocabulary and have access to fewer resources than their peers. In Lancaster County in 2024, 10% of 3- and 4-year-olds were enrolled in prekindergarten programs, up one percentage point from 2007, though still below the state rate of 24%.  

School spending in Lancaster County across public school districts was $20,500 per student in 2022, an increase of 19% since 2010.

Student population challenges include those needing special education services and the number of disengaged youth. In Lancaster County, 21% of Lancaster County students received special education services in 2023. This was a higher proportion than the nation, but similar to the state. About 6% of youth ages 16 to 19 in Lancaster County were disengaged in 2018-22 – not working or attending school. This rate has not changed since 2008-12 and is similar to Pennsylvania and the U.S.

Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test scores for students in Lancaster County were all above or on par with statewide levels in 2023. “Historically underperforming” students -- defined by Pennsylvania as students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, and English language learners -- scored consistently lower than the total County-wide student body, with the largest performance gap occurring on the 8^th grade Math Exam: 30% of all students in Lancaster County passed compared to 15% of historically underperforming students.  

In 2021, 55% of high school graduates in Lancaster County planned to attend college at either a 2- or 4-year program, a decrease of 8 percentage points from 2008. This was lower than the current state rate of 59% (which declined by 10 percentage points over the same time period). Lancaster’s rate ranked it in the lower end of neighboring counties, whose college-bound rates ranged from 44% to 72%.

Young adults provide a regional economy with a supply of young workers starting out in careers. Lancaster County had a little less than 25,000 young adults in 2018-22 with a bachelor's degree or higher, making up 5.8% of the total population, below the state and nation.

The rates of higher education attainment in Lancaster County by race/ethnicity were generally below the state and national rates for almost every group. The percentage of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher were highest for Asian Americans (40%) followed by Whites (31%). African Americans and Hispanics in Lancaster had lower rates -- 21% and 18% respectively.

Enrollment in local colleges in Lancaster County has decreased 9% since 2002, a 35% decline from the peak of 29,080 enrollments in 2008.