(The Center Square) – A new report gave Colorado a “B+” rating on open enrollment laws, which allows K-12 students to transfer to a different public school than the one they are assigned to.
The report from Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank, evaluates open enrollment laws in all 50 states across seven categories.
Colorado got a zero in three of the categories, but still received a score of 87/100 overall. That meant it was ranked eighth nationally.
The Center Square spoke with the report’s author, Jude Schwalbach, in an exclusive interview. Schwalbach said the state is in a great position nationally.
“While the state could make its open enrollment policy more transparent at the state- and district-levels, it’s an impressive example of a strong program,” Schwalbach said. “For example, during the 2023-24 school year, one in four students on average used open enrollment to attend a public school other than their assigned one.”
Under open enrollment laws, K-12 students are allowed to transfer to public schools other than their residentially assigned schools, if seats are available.
The report found that, in 2024, only 16 states had “strong” open enrollment laws. That means that about 39.4 million K-12 public school students, or 80%, reside in states with “weak or ineffective” open enrollment laws.
Schwalbach said students benefit from more accessible open enrollment options.
“Open enrollment is a common form of school choice with more than 1.6 million students using it according to data from 19 states,” Schwalbach said. “Many students use these programs to access better schools or specialized courses, such as Advanced Placement (AP) classes, shorten their commutes, access smaller class sizes or attend schools that are a better fit.”
With a score of 87, that means Colorado received all the points available (60) in the statewide cross-district open enrollment category.
To round out its score, it also received all 15 points available for statewide within-district open enrollment policy.
Between those two policies, that means school choice is available to most students in Colorado. Colorado was one of just a few states to receive such a good score.
“As of 2025, only 13 states received A or B grades per Reason Foundation’s scoresheet,” Schwalbach explained. “Reason Foundation’s open enrollment best practices offer a roadmap to states so they can improve their policies so more students can attend public schools that are the right fit.”
Colorado also received full credit for not charging transfer tuition, meaning transferring is free to students. It received only partial credit, two out of four points, for transparency.
In the three other categories — which include aspects of open enrollment like discrimination based on disabilities and allowing an appeals process— Colorado scored zeros.
Throughout the nation, the report found that more than 1.6 million students are utilizing open enrollment. In Colorado, those students made up 20% of all publicly-funded K-12 students.
