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NC charter school enrollment Archives - North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools

Jul 14
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New numbers: Private school increases, home school decreases

By News

Recent years have ushered in major changes to state and national K-12 enrollment, fueled largely by demographic shifts and policy change. Newly released enrollment figures from North Carolina’s Division of Non-Public Education (DNPE) continue that trend, revealing ongoing and significant shifts in private and homeschooling enrollment across the state.

Here are the new enrollment figures:

  • Estimated homeschool enrollment is down: In 2025-26, an estimated 152,897 students were educated in home schools across the state, according to DNPE. This reflects a 7.5% decrease from the year before.
  • Private school enrollment is up: In 2025-26, 143,998 students attended private schools across North Carolina, DNPE reported. This marks a 6.1% increase from the year before. What’s fueling the uptick? One potential driver of change: North Carolina lawmakers removed income eligibility caps for the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) in the budget passed in 2023, which became effective with the 2024-25 school year. OSP provides families with state-funded scholarships to attend private school.

The new annual charter schools report, released in June, also revealed an increase in charter enrollment. During the 2025-26 school year, 161,057 students attended North Carolina public charter schools, a 4.9% increase from the year before. Charter enrollment now represents over 10% of the state’s public school enrollment. It is the leading sector for K-12 enrollment outside traditional public schools.

Meanwhile, traditional public school enrollment dropped 1.8% last year, the News & Observer reported.

Read more about new enrollment figures from EdNC,  Carolina Journal, and the News & Observer.
Above: Shutterstock photo
Jul 07
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NC K-12 enrollment shifts: District, charter, private, and homeschool

By News

New state data from the N.C. Division of Non-Public Education reveal ongoing shifts in the K-12 landscape during the 2024-25 school year. Both home school and private school enrollment grew, increasing by around 5% and 3%, respectively. However, the charter sector experienced the greatest percentage growth increase of any K-12 sector in North Carolina during 2024-25, with a 6% uptick in enrollment.

Enrollment in district public schools continues to decline, although the decrease is slight. The majority of students in North Carolina, around 76%, still attend district schools. (Read this recent K-12 market share analysis from EdNC.)

Figures from the N.C. Division of Non-Public Education come on the heels of the state’s new annual charter schools report, presented to the Charter Schools Review Board last month. State Board of Education (SBE) members are expected to discuss the charter report at their July meeting later this week.

Public school enrollment: Charter and district

The number of students served by charter schools increased from 144,635 students in 2023-24 to 153,480 students in 2024-25. In addition, more than 74,000 students were on charter school waitlists at 161 charter schools at the beginning of this school year. As noted above, the increase in charter student enrollment represents a 6% uptick. (Read more about charter enrollment in this Coalition blog post.)

Charter schools often serve students from multiple counties/districts. See this 2024-25 breakdown in charter membership by students’ home district.

Attendance at North Carolina’s district public schools has decreased slightly, by around 1%, from 1,393,679 students in 2023-24 to 1,379,826 students in 2024-25. This figure is based on Average Daily Membership as outlined in the state’s public school budget. (See the historical breakdown in the March 2025 report, “Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget.”)

Home school enrollment

Estimated home school enrollment in North Carolina grew to include 165,243 students during the 2024-25 school year, a 4.8% increase over the year before. During the 2023-24 school year, 157,642 students learned at home. (View the state’s home school statistical history.)

In each of these five counties, more than 5,000 students were homeschooled in 2024-25:

  • Forsyth (5,765)
  • Johnston (5,427)
  • Mecklenburg (11,626)
  • Union (6,471)
  • Wake (15,454)

Private school enrollment

Private school enrollment increased to include 135,738 students during the 2024-25 school year, a 3.4% uptick over the year before. During the 2023-24 school year, 131,230 students attended private schools. (See the state’s private school statistical history.)

In each of these six counties, more than 5,000 students attended private schools in 2024-25:

  • Cumberland (6,274)
  • Durham (5,828)
  • Forsyth (6,082)
  • Guilford (7,367)
  • Mecklenburg (21,882)
  • Wake (21,621)

Students in these six counties comprised more than half of the state’s total private school population.

Above photo: Shutterstock.