According to recently published state reports, the number of students receiving education through homeschooling or private schools increased during the 2023-2024 academic year. This trend has been observed for several years now and seems to be continuing.
According to recent estimates, there are approximately 157,642 home-schooled students in North Carolina, which marks a 3% increase from the previous year. While this number falls below the peak of almost 180,000 students in the 2020-21 academic year, when many schools were forced to move to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is still a notable increase of almost 6% from the pre-pandemic level of around 149,000 students.
In North Carolina, the number of K-12 students enrolled in private schools has seen a rise of 3.5% over the previous year, with a total of 131,230 students currently enrolled. This increase can be attributed to a number of factors, including the disruption caused by the pandemic and the growing popularity of the Opportunity Scholarship program, which provides public funding for tuition fees. It is worth noting that private school enrollment has been on the rise for the past five years in the state.
Prior to the pandemic, charter school enrollment was on the rise in North Carolina, causing traditional public school enrollment to plateau or decrease. Despite these changes, approximately 75% of school-aged children in North Carolina were still enrolled in traditional public schools last year. The remaining percentages were divided amongst home-schooling (9%), charter schools (8%), and private schools (7%).
In terms of educational options, the Charlotte area boasts a wide variety of private and charter schools, surpassing the rest of the state. In Mecklenburg County, the majority of students, approximately 70%, attend Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, while 14% of students are enrolled in charter schools. Private schools house 10% of the student population, and 6% are home-schooled.
