Charter School Marketing in Colorado: Funding, Choice Windows, and the Enrollment Math

Public school enrollment by year (CDE):

Enrollment is down 12,406 students (1.4%) since 2020-21, and down 10,272 (1.2%) in the last year (calculated from CDE).

Method note. Counts are October headcounts from CDE. CDE publishes the charter count and charter enrollment for 2025-26 only, so this page does not show a charter trend. The Charter School Institute figures are from the same CDE system, and districts authorize the remaining charters.

What this means for enrollment marketing. One in six Colorado public school students is already in a charter, and the overall pool is shrinking. A school gains a student only when a family chooses it over the district school, another charter, a private school, or online school, so being seen early and answering fast decides who gets the seat.

Taylor Wiz measures what we control: the cost of a submitted application. You know your own yield, meaning the share of submitted applications that become enrolled, attending students. Divide our number by your yield and you have your marketing cost per enrolled student.

The Taylor Wiz figure. Across 20 charter school accounts, from October 2025 to September 2026, a submitted application cost $113 in Meta ad spend over the full year, and $103 from October through July. None of the 20 accounts is in Colorado. The seasonal detail is in the Charter Enrollment Marketing Benchmark 2026.

The math at different yields, using $113 and the $12,325 statewide average:

Over more than one year. A student who stays four years brings about $49,300 at the FY 2026-27 statewide average ($12,325 times 4, calculated), before any district hold. Use your own district's rate and your own re-enrollment data.

What this table does not include. Staff time, open houses, and printed materials. It is ad spend against the statewide average only. Your district's per pupil revenue will differ.

Method. Total Meta ad spend divided by applications marked submitted in our CRM, counted only in months with at least $300 in ad spend. All 20 accounts are charter schools in other states. The full method is on Cost Per Enrolled Student.

The authorizer. A charter is approved by the local school district or by the Colorado Charter School Institute, the state authorizer. 45 authorizers operate charters in Colorado, counting the Institute (CDE, 2025-26).

What your ads must match:

1. Open to every child in the district. "Enrollment in a charter school must be open to any child who resides within the school district" (C.R.S. 22-30.5-104). Ads should invite families to apply.
2. No discrimination. A charter is subject to laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, religion, ancestry, or need for special education services (C.R.S. 22-30.5-104).
3. Your own enrollment policy. "Enrollment decisions shall be made in a nondiscriminatory manner specified by the charter school applicant in the charter school application" (C.R.S. 22-30.5-104). Mention a preference or a lottery only if your charter's policy uses it.
4. A preference for children with disabilities is allowed if the local board approves a plan (C.R.S. 22-30.5-104).
5. Tuition-free. "A charter school shall not charge tuition," with limited exceptions in other statutes (C.R.S. 22-30.5-104). That is a message private schools can't match.
6. Public and nonsectarian. A charter "shall be a public, nonsectarian, nonreligious, non-home-based school" (C.R.S. 22-30.5-104).

We did not find a Colorado statute that names charter advertising either way. Whether a specific campaign is an appropriate use of public funds is a question for your governing board, counsel, and auditor.

1. Meta advertising. Facebook and Instagram campaigns aimed at families in your enrollment area, timed to your application window.
2. Parent outreach. Our outreach team contacts every inquiry within 15 minutes during business hours, by the next business day otherwise, and never later than 48 hours. They work with each family until an application is submitted. See Parent Outreach.
3. Enrollment websites. Inquiry and application paths built to convert on a phone.
4. Creative and video. Ads and video that show your school the way families experience it.
5. Reporting. Submitted applications and cost per submitted application, by month and by ad.

Your school takes it from there: offers, registration, and enrollment. We report submitted applications because that is the step we control.