At least 1.8 million students in 27 states and Washington, D.C., chose to attend traditional public schools other than their assigned one, according to a new analysis published by Reason Foundation. The research reveals that open enrollment—a policy allowing students to transfer from their assigned district school to other public schools—has become one of the most common forms of school choice in America. On average, about one in 14 students used open enrollment to attend public schools outside their assigned zones.
Nearly 1.3 million students transferred schools through cross-district open enrollment, while more than 508,000 used within-district transfers, though the latter figure is likely an undercount since only eight states and Washington, D.C., collected this data. Washington, D.C., had the highest transfer rate overall—42 percent of its public school students participated in open enrollment—while Colorado, Delaware, and Arizona led among states with transfer rates of 29 percent, 22 percent, and 14 percent respectively. In nine cases, open enrollment transfers accounted for 10 percent or more of students enrolled in public schools. Across all 28 jurisdictions studied, nearly one in six publicly funded students attended charter schools, used open enrollment, or received private-school scholarships to attend schools other than their residentially assigned ones—totaling approximately 5.2 million students. On average, 83 percent of students still attended their assigned public school, while about 8 percent attended charter schools, more than 7 percent attended public schools via open enrollment, and almost 2 percent used private-school scholarships.
The analysis found that transfer rates in nine out of 14 states with at least five years of data showed participation grew incrementally, confirming earlier research from Colorado, Minnesota, and Ohio. Wisconsin had the most complete dataset, tracking participants from the program's launch in the 1998–99 school year through 2024–25, during which participation increased by about 13 percent annually—growing from roughly 2,500 participants to nearly 62,000. States with smaller open enrollment programs saw more modest increases, with Massachusetts and New Mexico each rising by about 4 percent annually and South Dakota's program increasing by roughly 2 percent annually. The report notes that open enrollment participants accounted for about 34 percent of the approximate 5.2 million students using public funds for school choice in these states, and it was the most common form of non-assigned school choice in 12 states.
The analysis concludes that school districts face mounting pressure to compete as declining birth rates shrink the overall student population while mobility increases. Public school enrollments dropped by an average of 3 percent across states with available data between the 2019–20 and 2023–24 school years, even as open enrollment participation rose by 6 percent. Michigan exemplifies this trend—its public schools lost more than 69,000 students, a 4.6 percent enrollment decline, while open enrollment participation increased by 4 percent. The report points to districts in California, Minnesota, and Texas that have successfully competed through greater specialization and proactive outreach, noting that California districts participating in the District of Choice program that initially lost students were later able to recover them by conducting outreach to learn what services could better serve families. The report emphasizes that because open enrollment programs tend to scale up gradually, sending and receiving districts will have time to adjust if they act proactively, giving traditional public schools an opportunity to increase flexibility, improve offerings, and become more attractive to families in an increasingly competitive education marketplace.