North Carolina ranked last in the nation on public school open enrollment for the third consecutive year, according to a Reason Foundation report released Oct. 13. The state received zero out of 100 possible points and earned an F grade, tying with Alaska, Maine, and Maryland at the bottom. Open enrollment policies let students attend a traditional public school beyond their assigned neighborhood school — either in the same district or a different one — when seats are available.
The report scored states on seven measures, with the largest component worth 60 of the 100 points going to statewide requirements that districts accept transfers from other districts when space exists. Sixteen states have such policies. The remaining 40 points covered within-district transfers, tuition, screening by ability or disability, reporting on open seats and rejected applications, and appeals. North Carolina earned no points in any category. Oklahoma scored highest at 99 points, Arkansas earned 98, and Idaho got 97, with six states receiving an A. All of North Carolina's neighbors also received an F: Georgia scored 55, Tennessee 49, South Carolina 37, and Virginia 5. Thirty-three states nationwide received a failing grade.
The report found that "the Tar Heel State does not have any codified open enrollment options," according to author Jude Schwalbach, a senior policy analyst at Reason Foundation. North Carolina has no statewide open enrollment law, so transfer decisions fall to local school boards. Most districts allow transfers case by case, and many require families to demonstrate a hardship. The report criticized North Carolina for several factors, including the Department of Public Instruction's failure to publish data on transfer students. Districts aren't required to post their transfer policies or available seats by grade level, and state law doesn't bar districts from charging transfer students tuition or selecting transfers based on ability or disability.
The lack of statewide policy has pushed some districts to create their own solutions. Union County allows families to apply to any district school below 85% of capacity, with nineteen schools having open seats for the 2026-27 school year. The district's assistant superintendent of school performance and major projects, Bashawn Harris, said at a John Locke Foundation event in June that the district adopted the policy after losing students to charter schools and other options. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and Granville County Public Schools also run open enrollment programs. For North Carolina, the report recommends requiring every district to participate in cross-district and within-district open enrollment, making public schools free to all transfer students, and preventing districts from screening transfers by ability or disability.
The General Assembly has ordered a study of the policy. The state budget Gov. Josh Stein signed July 7 directs the North Carolina Collaboratory at UNC-Chapel Hill to study how districts could let students attend any school within their home district, including capacity, waitlists, transportation, and appeals. The study doesn't cover transfers between districts, the measure worth 60 of Reason's 100 points. The report, with any recommended legislation, is due to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by June 1, 2027. Seventy-nine percent of likely North Carolina voters supported within-district open enrollment in the January Carolina Journal Poll, up from 72% a year earlier. The Collaboratory report is due during the General Assembly's 2027 long session, which starts in January.