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Some 16 states have statewide policies allowing students to enroll in school outside of their assigned district, according to an open enrollment study published Thursday by the Reason Foundation. The analysis also shows that 17 states have statewide policies allowing for within-district enrollment options.
During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers in 24 states proposed at least 54 bills that, according to the libertarian think tank, would have improved open enrollment laws in those states if codified in accordance with the Reason Foundation’s best practices.
Those best practices include cross-district and within-district enrollment policies, free and open access to all public schools, transparent school district enrollment reporting practices and an appeal process for rejected transfer applicants.
As school choice demand grows across the country and as public school enrollment shrinks, advocates for open enrollment say this approach is a way to expand school options in the public K-12 sector.
Here are more figures from the Reason Foundation's recent analysis on open enrollment:
By the numbers
1.6 million
The number of students in 19 states who participated in open enrollment to attend a school outside their assigned one.
7%
The percentage of students in 19 states who participated in open enrollment using public funds.
4
The number of states that "significantly improved" their open enrollment laws during the 2025 legislative sessions, according to the Reason Foundation. Those states were: Arkansas, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
2 in 5
The ratio of students who used open enrollment in 10 states who came from low-income households, or about 148,000 students.
1 in 10
The ratio of students with disabilities who used open enrollment in 10 states, or about 121,000 students.
6
The number of states that allow students to transfer through open enrollment year-round. Those states are Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
2
The number of states that don't collect data on how many students transferred through open enrollment options. Those states are Utah and Idaho.
