New Hampshire could become the 17th state to adopt a strong within-district open enrollment law

Earlier this year, New Hampshire policymakers codified a universal private school choice law, an exciting victory for K-12 students. However, New Hampshire lawmakers didn’t stop expanding students’ schooling options. Both legislative chambers passed Senate Bill (S.B.) 97, which would establish a robust within-district open enrollment program.

If codified, this bill would ensure that students could transfer to any public school with open seats within their school district, allowing them to attend schools that are the right fit. It currently awaits the governor’s signature.

S.B. 97 would be an important step in the right direction for New Hampshire’s students. Per Reason Foundation’s 2024 national ranking of state open enrollment laws, New Hampshire has one of the worst policies in the nation–only seven states scored worse.

Robust open enrollment laws, like S.B. 97, guarantee that students can transfer to public schools with extra seats in their district. This helps students attend schools that are the right fit regardless of where they live. 

Research shows that strong within-district open enrollment policies, like S.B. 97, can help both students and schools improve. According to a 2023 Becker Friedman Institute report, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s within-district open enrollment policy positively affected participants, increasing student achievement and college enrollment, especially compared to non-participants. The authors also found that the lowest-performing schools improved the most, showing that these policies can benefit both students and schools. 

More broadly, students use open enrollment to escape bullying, access specialized courses, have smaller class sizes, or shorten their commutes. The latest national polling by EdChoice released in June 2025 showed that 78% of parents support open enrollment. Moreover, the policy’s support is bipartisan, with 80% of Democrats, 84% of Republicans, and 72% of Independents supporting it.  

Moreover, this support isn’t just talk. Reason Foundation found that 1.6 million students used open enrollment to attend schools that are the right fit, according to the freshest data from 19 states. Notably, 20% and 15% of students in Colorado and Delaware, respectively, used within-district open enrollment to attend schools other than their assigned ones.

This shows that strong open enrollment laws are an important form of school choice for students. Strengthening open enrollment laws so students are guaranteed transfer opportunities when extra seats are open is key to maximizing students’ schooling options.

State policymakers have taken note of open enrollment’s popularity. During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers in 12 states introduced 25 proposals to establish robust within-district open enrollment. 

Eight of these proposals passed at least one legislative chamber, and two states–Arkansas and Nevada–codified them, increasing the number of states with these policies to 16.  If codified, S.B. 97 would make New Hampshire the 17th state to adopt a strong within-district open enrollment law. 

This would increase New Hampshire’s score on Reason Foundation’s annual open enrollment rankings from 35 to 45 points out of 100, scoring better than 18 other states. This means that New Hampshire would outscore or tie all of its New England neighbors, except for Vermont and Massachusetts.

New Hampshire should continue its policy of putting students first by establishing a statewide within-district program ensuring that students can attend public schools that are the right fit regardless of where they live.  

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