(The Center Square) – Open enrollment laws for South Carolina’s nearly 800,000 schoolchildren are better than only 16 other states, says a new analysis.
That’s an improvement courtesy of Gov. Henry McMaster signing Senate Bill 62 that requires districts to post available capacity for cross-district transfers at least once a year on their websites, says report author Jude Schwalbach of the Reason Foundation. Public Schools Without Boundaries 2025, released Thursday, dives into seven areas of open enrollment for each state and offers developments related to open enrollment.
Scoring for a possible 100 points perfect score was in statewide cross-district open enrollment (60 points); statewide within-district open enrollment (15); children have free access to all public schools (10); public schools open to all students (5); transparent state reporting on transfers (4); transparent district reporting on transfers (4); and transfer applicants able to appeal rejected applications (2).
South Carolina scored 37 points and a letter grade of F.
“South Carolina policymakers can improve their open enrollment options in three main ways,” writes Schwalbach. “Require all districts to participate in cross- and within-district open enrollment. Make public schools free to all students. Require districts to post their available capacity by grade level and all open enrollment policies and procedures on their websites.”
South Carolina picked up 30 points in statewide cross-district open enrollment, five points for statwide within-district open enrollment, and one point each for transparent district reporting and transfer applicants having ability to appeal rejected applications.
The 2024-25 fiscal spending plan appropriated by the state included about $6.7 billion for K-12 education.
The Reason Foundation is a Libertarian think tank. It promotes liberty, free markets and the rule of law.
Earlier this year, South Carolina was 13th in the 2025 Education Freedom Report produced by the American Legislative Exchange Council. Measurements are not apples to apples with Reason. There, South Carolina scored an F for open enrollment but snagged a B for each of education freedom programs and charter schools, and C for each of homeschooling and virtual schooling.
