How to Increase Private School Enrollment in 2025
Private schools are navigating a complex landscape marked by both challenges and opportunities. Rising tuition costs, increased competition from public schools, and the need to adapt to changing technological advancements pose significant hurdles. Our 2025 Enrollment Trends Report will delve into the current trends in private school enrollment and explore strategies to enhance retention and attract new families and students.
You can find an overview of this report below:
Understanding the Current Enrollment Landscape
The National Association for Independent Schools, in its most recent 2024-2025 NAIS Trendbook cites, “In 2023-2024, median enrollment at NAIS schools has achieved a 5% increase over 2019-2020.” It’s important to note this trend in growth varied widely by school type and location. Another key insight from NAIS finds many metropolitan areas with growing independent school enrollment are in the southern United States. Some of these areas include Richmond, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Tampa, Baltimore, Atlanta and Washington D.C
Challenges Facing Private Schools
Even with the increase of families looking for new schools and private schools doing an increasingly better job of focusing on meeting families’ needs, there are still key challenges to increasing enrollment. Some of these include economic disparities, demographic shifts, growing competition, and the need for embracing new strategic marketing campaigns, including email, social media, and higher SEO-based website visibility.
1. Economic Barriers
The cost of tuition can be a barrier for families who would like to enroll their children in private schools. However, private and independent schools are working to reduce those barriers by providing more opportunities for scholarships, flexible tuition payments, and sibling discounts. Schools can also address affordability by encouraging all families to apply for financial aid and providing financial aid workshops for prospective parents.
2. Differentiation and Highlighting Unique School Offerings
Families want more choices when it comes to schools and what they offer students. These needs can vary and include higher academic rigor, year-round school calendar, classical studies, competitive college prep programs, affordable tuition rates, 24/7 parent/teacher communication, increased STEM programming, and strong athletic and arts curriculum. Without unique programs or facilities, private schools may struggle to attract students who are seeking specialized education or extracurricular activities.
3. More Need to Expand Diversity Initiatives
Schools need to actively engage more diversity initiatives and be able to have a marketing plan in place to encourage more diverse applicants to schools. This can include creating more bi-lingual programs, increasing your efforts toward enrolling students with diagnosed disabilities, and reaching out to new zip code areas in the region.
Long-Term Strategies for Success
The 2025 Private School Enrollment Trends Report ends with a set of actionable ideas your school can use to take your enrollment to the next level in the new school year, including social media and digital marketing strategies, local sponsorships, and improving communications. Fill out the form below to download the whole Trends Report!