NYC Charter Schools: 2010-11 Enrollment Trends (Final Estimates)

Of the 125* New York City charter schools enrolling students for 2010-11, 106 (85%) have
reported application and seat totals. The New York City Charter School Center estimates that
these will translate into citywide totals of approximately 54,000 applicants for 11,850 seats. This
estimate is based on simple extrapolations—expanding to cover unreported schools, and
retracting to discount for overlapping applications from the same students. The final total
demand is slightly revised from the earlier estimate of 55,000 applicants for 11,700 seats (based
on 78% reporting).

Approximately one charter school seat is available for every five applicants.

NYC charter school applicants vs. seats (2010-11, estimated)

11732

21%

79% Sources: NYC Charter School Center survey,

NYC Dept. of Education data
43314

Charter school applications have grown steadily over time.

Total NYC charter school applications, historical and estimated (2007-11)

70000
64,381 (est.)

60000
51,395
50000

40000 36,861

30000
25,269
20000

10000

2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Sources: NY BEDS data via GothamSchools.org (http://bit.ly/cehjgK), NYC Charter School Center survey,
NYC Dept. of Education data. Overlaps within Success Charter Network excluded in 2010-11 (-24,289);
otherwise totals not discounted.

*Excludes New York Center for Autism Charter School

Charter schools in Brooklyn report the most applications.

NYC charter school applications by borough, reported only (2010-11, 99 schools reporting)

Manhattan 14,341

Sources: NYC Charter

Bronx 12,996
School Center survey, NYC
Dept. of Education data.
Brooklyn 18,161 Excludes overlapping
applications within the 7-
Queens 4,258 school Success Charter
Network.

Staten Island 719

2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000

Charter schools utilize multiple outreach methods.

57 schools responded to survey questions about their outreach efforts. These charter schools
distributed an average of 3,700 applications each, and used an average of 4 outreach methods
including, in order of popularity:

• distributing neighborhood fliers;

• making visits to feeder schools and preschools;
• attending enrollment fairs; and
• sending mail to eligible families through the DOE’s Vanguard system.