Utah Charter Schools
Utah charter schools are tuition-free public schools that operate under a charter with an authorizer. They are open to all Utah resident students, regardless of which district you live in.
Tuition: $0 – Completely FREE. Families may still pay the standard public-school fees allowed under state fee rules.
Authorization: Utah Code Title 53G, Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 Part 5, with funding under section 53F-2-702
Oversight: The Utah State Board of Education oversees charter schools. Authorizers are the Utah State Charter School Board, the largest of them, any local school board, and the boards of trustees of Utah’s public colleges, universities and technical colleges.
Who Can Attend: Every Utah resident student qualifies for admission, subject to capacity. A charter school must enroll a foster child living with an enrolled student, and must enroll any other eligible student who applies on time unless applications exceed capacity.
Admission Process:
- Apply directly to the charter school
- If more students apply than there are seats, admission is on a random basis by lottery
- State law permits exceptions to that random draw for siblings of current or former students, children of employees, children and grandchildren of founders or governing board members, children of military service members and Department of Defense civilians, students moving between charters that share a governing board or have a board-approved articulation agreement, and students within two miles, or in the same political subdivision, whose assigned school is at capacity, meaning operating above its open enrollment threshold
- A charter approved after May 13, 2014 in a designated high growth area must give the two-mile preference, with some exceptions
Application Timing: Set by each school. Many run lotteries in winter for the following fall, then keep waitlists.
Capacity: Each school’s enrollment cap is written into its charter. Raising it requires state board approval and depends on legislative appropriation or authorization.
Funding: Charters are funded through the state’s Minimum School Program on a per-WPU basis, plus a local replacement allocation that supplements the property-tax revenue districts collect. FY2027 estimates put charter K-12 WPUs at 84,567, worth $411,663,641.
Program Scale: 148 charter schools operated as of October 2025, including 9 virtual and 2 alternative schools, against 960 district schools. In 2025-26 charters served about 13% of Utah students, and charter enrollment grew 3.6% while statewide public enrollment fell 1.7% to 656,311.
Special Education: Charter schools are public schools and must serve students with disabilities under IDEA.
Transportation: Charter schools are generally not required to bus students the way districts are, and practice varies from school to school. Ask before you enroll.
Important Note: Charter enrollment is public-school enrollment, so it cannot be combined with the Utah Fits All Scholarship or the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship. Charter students may still take part-time online courses through the Statewide Online Education Program and earn college credit through concurrent enrollment.
Finding a School: