Exploring School Transfers Within Indiana's Primary and Secondary Public Schools

Choice Scholarship voucher program continues rapid growth but remains a small portion of overall enrollment.

Story and graphics by Ted Schurter

The number of transfers within Indiana’s schools has increased dramatically in the last few years even as overall enrollment has remained relatively stable. Indiana's Choice Scholarship program, where eligible families apply for taxpayer-funded vouchers to pay tuition at private, often parochial, schools, surged 31% in the 2023-2024 school year, accounting for one of every three transfers out of Indiana public school corporations.

Introduced in 2011 by then-governor Mitch Daniels as an escape route for students in underperforming public schools, the Choice Scholarship program was the largest school voucher program nationally, and statutorily capped at 7,500 students. Since then, the program has grown as successive state legislatures eroded eligibility requirements down to their current level: students must be between five and 21 years-old with legal settlement in Indiana and a family income of up to 400% of the amount to qualify for the federal free or reduced lunch program. That equates to $230,880 for a family of four in 2024, well above the state’s $66,785 median household income.

Transfers have grown from 12% to 18% of total enrollment - the combined enrollment of private and public schools - since 2018. In that time, Choice Scholarship transfers increased from 25% to 33% of all transfers.

While the annual changes in transfer totals have remained positive, changes in private, public and total enrollment have fluctuated between growth and decline. Private enrollment, which includes all private schools, dipped dramatically following Covid but rebounded strongly and maintained positive growth thanks to the flood of new Choice Scholarship transfers. Its gains were enough to buffer the slight recent losses in public enrollment and keep total enrollment in positive territory.

Understanding school transfers

School-age children in Indiana are entitled to a free public education in the school corporation where they live, their school corporation of legal settlement. Unless they've previously enrolled in public school, home-school students and those who exclusively attend a private school are not included in the legal settlement tally.

In 2024, that count totaled just over a million students within 290 school corporations.

The number of students with legal settlement in a school corporation is constrained by how many students live within its borders. A school or school corporation's enrollment, the number of students attending classes, is more dynamic, fluctuating as students transfer in and out during biannual transfer windows.

Transfer students may move within their own corporation, going from one school to another, or to another school corporation, charter or Choice Scholarship school. The motivations behind each transfer can be as diverse as student personalities. Some seek a better school fit, different educational offerings, improved extra-curricular activities, or broader athletic opportunities. Some transfers accommodate the children of teachers who live and work in different school corporations, are the result of behavior or school disciplinary issues, or reflect a preference for religious education.

School corporations set their own policy regarding student transfers, and in some instances, permission must be granted from the school corporations involved.

Illustrating school transfers

Visualizing the transfers from a single school corporation can help clarify the movement and terminology involved.

Net transfers

More transfer students depart than arrive at six of ten Indiana school corporations, resulting in negative net transfers. On average (and excluding outliers), they receive students from 11 corporations while dispersing them to 32 corporations or schools. These corporations tend to be larger, with an average legal settlement of 3,000 students.

The average school corporation with a positive transfer rate (excluding outliers) receive and send students from 12 and 22 schools and corporations respectively. They tend to be smaller with an average legal settlement of about 1,200 students. There are 104 Indiana school corporations with positive net transfers.

Where transfers are most common

The presence of charter or Choice Scholarship schools within a corporation’s boundaries often influences its transfer rate. Corporations with more than one alternative are more likely to have a negative transfer rate. Larger corporations with many alternatives are generally located within larger communities and have the highest negative transfer rates.