2023-2024 Trends

What is School Choice?

School choice means giving parents the power to select the best educational environments for their children. National School Choice Week celebrates all of the K-12 education options that parents can choose – or want to be able to choose – for their kids. These options include: traditional public schools, public charter schoolspublic magnet schoolsprivate schools, online academies, homeschooling, and microschooling and mix-and-match learning.

National School Choice Week does not prefer one type of choice above another. Instead, we believe that parents themselves are best qualified to make decisions for their children. This page provides an up-to-date overview of what’s happening across the seven main school choices in America.

What’s New this School Year?

The school choice movement has been growing for over 30 years, and in 2023, it is more pronounced than ever before. Currently, nontraditional environments are gaining popularity, underlining parents’ strong desire to find the school that best meets the needs of their children.

In 2023, a record 20 states said “yes” to expanding school choice. These states have implemented or are getting ready to implement new or expanded programs that will likely enroll millions of students. 

This year’s school choice expansions span all sectors, from more flexible open enrollment in traditional public schools… to expanded options for homeschoolers… to new private school scholarships available to all or almost all students in some states.

As school choices expand, families are responding. Reports show strong take-up rates of these new options as parents actively engage in comparing and choosing between learning choices. In a January 2024 parent survey, 72% of all parents considered a new school for their children in 2023–a 35% increase over 2022.

Traditional Public Schools and Open Enrollment:

Open enrollment and traditional public schools are established by school districts and are available for children in all 50 states. These schools do not charge tuition. Open enrollment policies make it possible for parents to choose traditional public schools that are outside of their zone or district.

There are currently about more than 98,000 traditional public schools nationwide serving over 49.4 million children.

In 12 states parents may be able to select any traditional public school for their child, in any school district.

In 21 states, there are at least some situations where schools are required to participate in open enrollment. For example, some states guarantee open enrollment to families who wish to transfer out of a low-performing school, or families who live too far from their assigned school. In these states, parents meeting certain requirements are guaranteed choice. Open enrollment may be optional in other cases.

An additional 16 states have allowed districts and schools to decide whether to participate in open enrollment. In these cases, families must request and receive school district approval to use open enrollment. Access to public school transfers in these states vary widely – in some, transfers are readily available while in others, transfers are rarely permitted.

In 1 state, North Carolina, open enrollment is generally not permitted, but there are still select cases where families have access to “choice zones” or transfers.

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Parents of students meeting certain criteria may choose
Parents are free to choose any public school they wish
Parents must receive school district approval to choose
The state does not permit intradistrict open enrollment, but families can choose in rare exceptions
Parents can choose any public school, but some receiving districts charge fees
Parents can apply to any school via a lottery

Source: Education Commission of the States, 2023; Independent research by NSCW

Public Charter Schools

Charter schools are public schools that are created by school districts, colleges, nonprofit organizations, or other entities. These schools are allowed to determine many of their own policies and practices; the goal is to innovate within the public school system. Charter schools are always public schools and they are not allowed to charge tuition.

There are currently about 7,800 charter schools in the U.S. serving about 3.7 million children. As shown on this map, 45 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing for the creation of public charter schools. The number of students in charter schools has more than doubled in the last 10 years.

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Permitted     Not permitted     Permitted, but none available yet

Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, 2023; Independent research by NSCW

Magnet Schools

Magnet schools are public schools operated by school districts (or groups of school districts) that allow kids to focus on a specific learning track, such as STEM, medical science, or performing arts. At a magnet school, all subjects are taught through the lenses of the school’s specific track.

Magnet schools are free to attend and there are more than 4,000 magnet schools across the country serving about 3.5 million children.  In addition, there are thousands of magnet programs within traditional public schools nationwide. Magnet schools, theme-based schools, or magnet programs are permitted in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. In some states, as indicated on the map below, there are no freestanding magnet schools, but there are magnet programs available in traditional public schools.

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Magnet schools are available
Magnet programs are available, but no freestanding magnet schools exist

Source: Magnet Schools of America, 2023; Independent research by NSCW

Private School Choice

Private schools are available in all 50 states. Private schools charge tuition and may be faith-based or independent. Many private schools and nonprofit organizations offer scholarships for students. There are about 34,576 private schools nationwide serving about 5.7 million children.In addition, 32 states offer official state-run programs that provide either a scholarship to private school (such as a tax-credit scholarship or an education savings account program) or private school tuition assistance (such as a tax deduction) for families. Of these states, 22 states offer official scholarship programs, 9 states offer both scholarship and deduction programs, and 1 state offers only a deduction program. More programs are on the horizon; for example, Nebraska is launching a new tax-credit scholarship in 2024!

Find jargon-free explanations of education savings accounts and tax-credit scholarships in our Education Glossary. For full details of your state’s private school scholarship and deduction availability, you may wish to directly contact a local or state-based school choice organization.

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Tuition assistance may be available from privately funded scholarships
Tuition assistance available from an official state scholarship and deduction program
Tuition assistance available from an official state scholarship program
Tuition assistance available from an official state deduction program

Source: EdChoice, 2023; Independent research by NSCW

Online Learning and Course Access

Virtual academies instruct students through online or digital curricula. In the U.S., approximately 375,000 K-12 students attended a statewide online school full-time in 2019-2020, a number that jumped to 656,000 for the 2020-2021 school year. While the numbers for 2022 and 2023 aren’t in yet, there are certainly many families choosing online learning.

In 35 states and D.C., online public schools have been established by state authorities, by school districts, or charter schools, meaning students can attend these schools full-time, tuition-free for all grades K-12. In Vermont, free, full-time online public school is available for grades K-8. In Kentucky, free, full-time online public school is available for grades K-11. In addition, more than 30 states offer part-time online public schooling through course access, which allows students to use online coursework to supplement their education with specific classes. In many states, this is accessible, and sometimes even free, for private school or homeschooled students.

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Free, full-time online school is available statewide for all grades
Free, full-time online school is not available statewide, but localized or paid options may be available
Free, full-time online school is available for grades K-8

Source: Digital Learning Collaborative, 2023; Independent research by NSCW

Homeschooling

Homeschooling is the process of parents educating children in the home, and many families choose to collaborate via tutorials, co-operatives, and extracurricular leagues to enhance the home education experience. Enrollment in homeschool programs nearly doubled from 1999 (0.9 million) to 2016 (1.7 million). In 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic, more than 2 million children (more than 3% of the American student population) were educated in their home. As of 2023, there are an estimated 3.1 million homeschool students in the U.S.

The 2021 Household Pulse Surveys by the U.S. Census Bureau show that homeschooling has grown among all race and income categories over the past five years.

As shown on this map, all states permit parents to educate their children in the home.

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State allows homeschooling 

Source: National Home Education Research Institute, 2023; Independent research by NSCW

Microschooling and Mix-and-Match Learning

Today, many families are finding the flexibility, customization,  and community they desire in learning arrangements at least partially outside their traditional public school or parochial school. Today, more than 1 million families participate in “microschooling,” localized learning groups they’ve discovered or designed. While families who microschool may legally be homeschoolers or private schoolers, they share an entrepreneurial mindset that sets them apart.

Read more at the complete guide to microschooling and mix-and-match learning.