Overview

• Reason Foundation released Public Schools Without Boundaries 2025, grading every state’s transfer laws on a 100-point scale across seven weighted categories.
• Only 16 states earned strong ratings, leaving an estimated 80% of K–12 students in states with weak or ineffective open enrollment policies.
• Examples vary widely: Colorado ranked eighth with a B+ (87), California earned a D- (62), Michigan got an F (35), North Carolina received zero points for an F, and South Carolina scored 37 after a new capacity-posting law.
• The analysis estimates more than 1.6 million students use open enrollment in the 19 states that report data.
• Recommendations call for universal cross-district transfers to schools with available seats, bans on transfer tuition, clear capacity reporting by grade, appeals for denied applications, and nondiscrimination safeguards.