This brief provides information about enrollment patterns for K-12 students in Philadelphia’s public schools. The analyses focus on enrollment changes with respect to governing sector (District, Philadelphia Charter, Cyber Charter, Alternative, or Other), admission type (catchment, citywide, or criteria-based), and student demographics, based on data from the October 1 Enrollment Snapshot.

The brief looks at enrollment trends from 2014-15 through the present school year, with a particular focus on 2023-24 to 2024-25.

Key findings include:

• As of October 1, 2024, overall enrollment in Philadelphia public schools was 198,299 students.
  • 117,956 students were enrolled in District and Alternative schools.
    • 114,529 students were enrolled in District schools.
    • 3,427 students were enrolled in Alternative schools.
  • 63,964 students were enrolled in Philadelphia Charter schools.
  • 14,252 students were enrolled in Cyber Charter schools.
  • 2,127 students were enrolled in Other school categories.
• From 2014-15 to 2024-25:
  • District school enrollment decreased by 12.0% (15,546 fewer students).
  • Alternative school enrollment increased by 3.1% (103 more students).
  • Philadelphia Charter school enrollment decreased by 0.5% (337 fewer students).
  • Cyber Charter school enrollment increased by over 2500% (13,705 more students).
• As of October 1, 2024, Spanish was the most common non-English language spoken at home, as reported by families of students in District schools. The number of District students whose families reported that they speak Portuguese at home has increased rapidly since the 2021-22 school year, surpassing the number of Mandarin Chinese speakers as the second most common non-English language spoken at home in 2024-25.