Open Enrollment in NH
In New Hampshire law, an “open enrollment public school” means any public school which, in addition to providing educational services to pupils residing within its attendance area or district, chooses to accept pupils from other attendance areas within its district and from outside its district.
History of Open Enrollment in NH
The Laws that Launched Open Enrollment
First established in 1995, the State’s open enrollment law was originally intended to operate in support of public charter schools. Within the traditional public school system, student transfers occurred across districts as a result of cross-district collaboration and coordination typically based upon individual student needs and circumstances.
In 2009, Open Enrollment and Charter School policy was bifurcated allowing the two pathways to operate independent of one another. With this change came the first effort by state lawmakers to prescribe a tuition formula and the ability of local districts to limit the number of “resident pupils who may attend open enrollment schools located inside and outside the school district.”
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The 2026 Legislative Session
Here are the Open Enrollment bills the NH State Legislature is currently considering: