Last month, fresh charter school numbers had several observers asking: Why are fewer charters opening?
A new report from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers offers some clues. In short, it finds fewer groups are applying to open new schools.
Over the past five years, the approval rate for charter school applications nationwide has hovered right around 35 percent. But the total number of applications has declined.

The approval rate for charter school applications has hovered right around 35 percent, but fewer schools are applying to open. Chart via NACSA.
Why are fewer groups applying to open new charter schools? The authorizers group says that’s a question for future research.
“As the sector continues to think through why growth is slowing, our findings suggest figuring out what’s driving the decline in charter applications will be a central part of the answer,” M. Karega Rausch, NACSA’s vice president of research and evaluation, said in a press release. “That’s why we think it’s important to dig deeper into the data and find out why fewer applications are being proposed and what’s helping—or hindering—strong applications.”