Charter School Marketing in Louisiana: Funding, Lotteries, and the Enrollment Math

Charter students by type, October 1, 2025 (LDOE):

Method note. Counts are October 1 headcounts from LDOE's school-by-school file, using its "Charter Type" column, so each school counts as one site. LDOE's state row lists 665,674 students, and the school-by-school rows add to 665,813, so the share uses the state row. LDOE's annual charter report says BESE authorizes Type 2, 4, and 5 charters and local districts authorize Type 1, 3, and 3B. This page does not show a trend, because the earlier LDOE charter report and this file are different documents.

What this means for enrollment marketing. About one in seven Louisiana public school students is already in a charter, and in New Orleans nearly all of them are. A school gains a student only when a family chooses it over the next charter on the list, the district school, 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 Louisiana. The seasonal detail is in the Charter Enrollment Marketing Benchmark 2026.

The math at different yields, using $113 and the $4,015 base cost:

Over more than one year. A student who stays four years brings at least $16,060 in base cost at the FY 2026-27 figure ($4,015 times 4, calculated). Use your own funding statement and your own re-enrollment data.

What this table does not include. Weighted funding, other state and local dollars, staff time, open houses, and printed materials. It is ad spend against the base cost only, so the real share is lower.

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 authorizers. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) authorizes Type 2, 4, and 5 charters. The local school board authorizes Type 1, 3, and 3B charters (LDOE).

What your ads must match (R.S. 17:3991):

1. Enroll eligible applicants. A charter school must enroll an eligible pupil who applies on time, unless applicants exceed capacity, in which case it must hold an admissions lottery. Ads should invite families to apply.
2. A fair lottery. When applicants exceed capacity, admission "shall be based on an admissions lottery," done "in such a fashion as to ensure enrollment transparency." Lottery information, including results and waiting lists, must be available to applicants.
3. Your actual preferences. A charter may give preference to students previously enrolled and their siblings, and a converted school gives preference to students already enrolled. Elementary and middle charters other than Type 2 may be granted a neighborhood preference. Mention a preference only if your school uses it.
4. No exclusion by protected traits. Admission requirements must preclude exclusion of pupils based on race, religion, gender, ethnicity, national origin, intelligence level as measured by an IQ test, disability, or economic disadvantage. A mission-based requirement, such as an audition for a performing arts school, may be allowed. An ad that suggests students are chosen by grades or test scores conflicts with that.
5. Tuition-free. A charter school may not charge "any tuition or an attendance fee of any kind." That is a message private schools can't match.

We did not find a Louisiana rule that names charter advertising either way, in the statute or in the BESE admission rule we read. 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: lottery, offers, registration, and enrollment. We report submitted applications because that is the step we control.