Over the past four school years, charter schools have enrolled over 300,000 new students for an overall growth of 9%, where traditional public school enrollment dropped by 3.5%, according to a report released Monday by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

The National Alliance looked at data from the 2019-20 through 2022-23 school years and found that in 40 of the 42 states studied, charter school enrollment increased, ranging from 35 students in both Virginia and Wyoming to 67,148 students in Texas. 

Traditional public schools, on the other hand, lost 1.5 million students over that same time period, according to data collected from state education agencies by the National Alliance, a nonprofit organization that promotes charter school education.

As to why charter school enrollment is trending upward, the alliance pointed to its 2022 parent survey that found those who chose public charter schools did so because of higher quality instruction, smaller school and class sizes, better safety, and an overall desire for school choice. 

“Free, public, and open to all, charter schools deliver a high-quality choice in education and parents are demanding greater access to these unique public schools year after year,” said Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance, in a statement.

The vast majority of students attend traditional public schools. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that in fall 2021, about 48.2 million students attended "regular" public schools and 3.7 million were at charter schools. NCES data shows that between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, regular public school enrollment declined by 25,352 students and charter school enrollment fell by 5,582 students.

A closer look at the National Alliance's data finds Hispanic students made up about half of the overall charter school enrollment growth and represent a nearly 14% increase in 26 states between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 school years. Black student enrollment grew by 6%, while White student enrollment rose by 1.6% in those years.

And in some places, like Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, charter school enrollment is "rightsizing" after spiking in the 2020-21 school year largely due to enrollment in virtual charter schools during the pandemic. Since campuses have opened for in-person learning, charter school enrollment in these places has leveled off.