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

In five districts, and mostly in Memphis and Nashville. In 2024-25, all 114 charter schools were located within Hamilton County, Knox County, Memphis-Shelby County, Metro Nashville, and Rutherford County (TDOE).

Source: TDOE, 2026 Charter Schools Program Report, Appendix B (2024-25).

What this means for enrollment marketing. In Memphis, nearly 1 in 5 district students attends a charter, so families compare charters with each other, not only with the district. A Memphis or Nashville charter needs a clear reason to choose it over the one down the street. In Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Murfreesboro, charters are rare, and the first job is making sure families know the school exists.

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. The seasonal detail is in the Charter Enrollment Marketing Benchmark 2026.

8 of those 20 schools are Memphis charter schools, so this figure is built in large part from the Tennessee market this page describes.

The math at different yields, using $113 and the $8,016 funding floor:

Over more than one year. A student who stays four years brings about $32,064 at the 2026-27 floor ($8,016 times 4), before weights. Use your own re-enrollment data for the number of years.

What this table does not include. Weights, extra local funding, staff time, open houses, and printed materials. The funding figure is a floor, 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 more than one state. The full method is on Cost Per Enrolled Student.

The authorizers. In 2024-25, seven entities authorized Tennessee charter schools: five local school boards (Hamilton County, Knox County, Memphis-Shelby County, Metro Nashville, and Rutherford County), the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission, and the Achievement School District. Local boards authorized 82% of charter schools (TDOE).

What your ads must match:

1. Returning students come first. Students who attended last year are enrolled before any lottery (Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-13-113).
2. A lottery when you're full. If applications exceed capacity, the school selects by lottery (§ 49-13-113). Ads should say "apply," not "reserve your spot."
3. The preference order is set by law: students in the sponsor's pre-K program; economically disadvantaged students, if the school uses that preference; students from a charter with an approved articulation agreement; siblings of enrolled students; then in-district students who attended another public school the year before (§ 49-13-113). Mention a preference only if your school uses it.
4. Employee and board children may receive a preference capped at 10% of enrollment or 25 students, whichever is less (§ 49-13-113).
5. Out-of-district students are capped at 25% of enrollment (§ 49-13-113). Most of your ad budget belongs inside your own district.
6. Tuition-free. Tennessee public charter schools may not charge tuition, registration fees, or enrollment fees (Tennessee School Boards Association, The Law on Charter Schools). That is a message private schools can't match.

Tennessee law does not address advertising directly. 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.