State reports posted this week show more students were taught at home or enrolled in private schools during the 2023-24 school year, continuing trends that have been emerging for years.
North Carolina had an estimated 157,642 home-schooled students, up 3% from the previous year. That’s below the peak of almost 180,000 in 2020-21, when most schools went remote during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it’s almost 6% above the pre-pandemic level of approximately 149,000.
Meanwhile, 131,230 K-12 students were enrolled in North Carolina’s private schools, up 3.5% over the previous year. Private school enrollment started increasing about five years ago, fueled by pandemic upheaval and a growing Opportunity Scholarship program that provides public money for tuition.
Even before the pandemic, enrollment in North Carolina’s school districts was starting to flatten or shrink as charter school enrollment grew. Even with the shifts, though, about 75% of North Carolina’s school-age children were enrolled in traditional public schools last year. About 9% were home-schooled, with 8% in charter schools and 7% in private schools.
The Charlotte area offers more private and charter schools than the state as a whole. In Mecklenburg County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools accounted for about 70% of total enrollment, with 14% of students in charter schools, 10% in private schools and 6% home-schooled.
