The Tar Heel State ranks 13th in a new index of how well the 50 states provide different educational options for parents in 2026.
Released Jan. 21 by the American Legislative Exchange Council, the results show that North Carolina dipped slightly from its 2025 ranking when the state placed 12th overall, but its score was still enough to earn a B+. The state’s slight dip was primary due to other states’ advancing on parental choice rather than a decline in its own school-choice policies.
The release of the index preceded National School Choice Week, which runs Jan. 25-31. ALEC evaluated the states across five metrics: student-centered funding, charter schools, home schooling, virtual learning, and open enrollment.
“What better way to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence than for states to provide universal education freedom to their students?” said ALEC CEO Lisa B. Nelson in a statement. “This year’s report provides a clear guide for more states to transform education policy by providing school choice to all families.”
Despite the slip in score, North Carolina won praise from ALEC for its Opportunity Scholarship Program, which is now universally available to all students regardless of income, and for its robust charter school network. ALEC also gave a middling rank to laws governing the state’s homeschool and virtual schools, noting that homeschooling could be improved by reducing regulations and that virtual schools could be improved by allowing students to take state assessments virtually.
The most significant area for improvement is North Carolina’s open enrollment policies, according to ALEC. Expanding open enrollment to include both intradistrict and interdistrict options, coupled with publicly releasing data on available seats and rejected transfer applications, would significantly improve the state’s standing.
“The ALEC report accurately ranks North Carolina high on its national education freedom index,” said Dr. Robert Luebke, director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation. “Thirteenth out of fifty states reflects the good work the state has done to expand educational opportunities for families. The B+ grade also illustrates the improvements North Carolina can make in funding all eligible students for state-funded private school choice programs and improving choice within the public schools like with better policies for open enrollment. Yes, we should be proud, but more work remains.”
For the overall rankings, Florida earned the No. 1 spot nationwide and was the only state to garner an A+ overall grade. Rounding out the top five states were Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, and West Virginia. Nebraska came in last place, followed by New York, Kentucky, Maryland, and Connecticut.
A number of states improve their scores from 2025 — among them Texas that leaped 15 spots to No. 9 and Wyoming that climbed 11 spots to No. 17 after both states passed legislation to create universal school-choice programs in their states.
But other states fell significantly: Louisiana slipped 24 spots to 33rd in the nation after the legislature failed to fund the state’s school-choice scholarship program, while Nebraska fell 18 spots to last place after its school-choice scholarship was repealed.
