[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-582715-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-582715-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","a-snapshot-of-open-enrollment-trends-in-rural-minnesota-january-2018-kelly-asche","A Snapshot of Open Enrollment Trends in Rural Minnesota - January 2018 - Kelly Asche","","A Snapshot of Open Enrollment Trends in Rural Minnesota (January 2018) examines how open enrollment flows have shifted in Greater Minnesota and how these changes increasingly influence district planning. The report tracks the rise in students choosing open enrollment outside the seven-county metro area and contrasts districts with consistent net gains versus consistent net losses. It analyzes impacts on total enrollment, financial and operational planning, and highlights examples such as Willmar and adjacent rural districts where open enrollment stabilizes or reverses enrollment declines.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-snapshot-of-open-enrollment-trends-in-rural-minnesota-january-2018-kelly-asche/582715/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/a-snapshot-of-open-enrollment-trends-in-rural-minnesota-january-2018-kelly-asche/582715.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Mia  ","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",7,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What main trend does the report identify about open enrollment in rural Minnesota?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The number of students choosing to open enroll in Greater Minnesota has trended upward consistently, with intensifying patterns over the last ten years.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How does the report categorize districts for analysis?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It divides Greater Minnesota districts into two groups—\"rural\" and \"regional center\"—based on the definitions referenced in the report.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What factors does the report highlight as common drivers behind student movement?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The report points to shared push-pull factors, with the most common being a preference for a small school atmosphere and parents’ perceptions of better opportunities in smaller schools.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},582715,1792211459,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":108,"preview_page_count":4},687207024478,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","P.O. Box 3185 Mankato, MN 56002-3185  \n(507)934-7700 [www.ruralmn.org](www.ruralmn.org)  \nA Snapshot of Open Enrollment Trends in Rural Minnesota  \nJanuary, 2018  \nBy Kelly Asche, Research Associate  \nTo read this report online, [visit our website at www.ruralmn.org](visit our website at www.ruralmn.org).  \nThe number of students choosing to open enroll in Greater Minnesota has been trending upward consistently since the policy was developed, but within the last ten years, these patterns have been intensifying, and in such a way that they are impacting how districts plan their programming, busing, and finances. Many districts are even be forced to rethink their communications strategies to take advantage of the growing inflow of students into their districts or to slow the outflow of students away from their districts.  \nAnd with the continuing decline in enrollment in rural districts (64% of rural districts have a lower enrollment in 2017 compared to 2006), it isn’t surprising that a cordial competition for these students has sprung up. Fewer students equals fewer dollars for salaries, facilities, and programs.  \nMore Students Choosing to Open Enroll  \nWithin the churn of open enrollment, a pattern has emerged over the last ten years where now nearly half of the school districts outside the seven-county metro area fall into two categories: i) districts that have experienced a net gain in open enrollment students every year, or ii) districts that have experienced a net loss in open enrollment every year.  \nFor this analysis we divided districts in Greater Minnesota into two groups,“rural” and “regional center.” For definitions of how we arrived at these categories, see section Geographic Types Explained. Figure 1 shows that 41% of regional center school districts and 43% of rural districts fall into one of these two categories.  \nOver the years, the number of students choosing open enrollment has increased significantly across all types of school districts. In 2017 (2016-2017 school year), the number grew to nearly 25,000 rural district students (a 50% increase compared to 2006) and 15,000 regional center district students (a 108% increase) .  \nThis increase has far surpassed any increases in total enrollment. The share of students open enrollment represents in rural districts has increased from 9% in 2006 to 15% in 2017, while total enrollment decreased by 3% . The increase in regional center districts has been less, going from 3% to 5%, while total enrollment has increased by 3% .  \nFrom Regional Centers to Adjacent Rural Districts  \nThe share of total enrollment that open-enrollment students represent isn’t evenly distributed among all districts, however.  \nAs figure 1 above shows, since 2006, a third of regional center districts have experienced a net loss in open enrollment every year, meaning that more students open-enrolled out of these districts than chose to open-enroll into them. At the same time, some of the adjacent rural districts experienced anet gain every year, meaning more students open-enrolled into these districts than out. In fact, rural districts as a whole have experienced net gains that are very much a mirror image of the trend in net losses in regional center districts (figure 3) .  \nMapping the regional center districts that experience a consistent net loss in open enrollment along with the rural districts that experience a consistent net gain makes it easier to see how often these districts are adjacent to each other (figure 4) .  \nDr. Jeff Holm, superintendent of the Willmar School District, sees school buses from New LondonSpicer (NL-S), Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (KMS), BOLD, and Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (ACGC) pick up students in his district every school day.  \nThe Willmar school district is one of the regional centers that has had more of its resident students enrolling outside of the district than open-enrolling into it every year since 2006. In 2017, the net loss in open enrollment was over 30","cbCaiuCUH3qqnWdE","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuCUH3qqnWdE","pdf",892677,16,"English","# Overarching enrollment patterns\n## Growth in open enrollment choices\n## Net gain vs. net loss districts\n# Geographic shifts from regional centers to rural districts\n## Adjacent district adjacency patterns\n## Regional center examples and impacts\n# Rural district stability and competitiveness\n## Stabilizing declining enrollment\n## Push and pull factors","[{\"question\":\"What main trend does the report identify about open enrollment in rural Minnesota?\",\"answer\":\"The number of students choosing to open enroll in Greater Minnesota has trended upward consistently, with intensifying patterns over the last ten years.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the report categorize districts for analysis?\",\"answer\":\"It divides Greater Minnesota districts into two groups—\\\"rural\\\" and \\\"regional center\\\"—based on the definitions referenced in the report.\"},{\"question\":\"What factors does the report highlight as common drivers behind student movement?\",\"answer\":\"The report points to shared push-pull factors, with the most common being a preference for a small school atmosphere and parents’ perceptions of better opportunities in smaller schools.\"}]","A Snapshot of Open Enrollment Trends in Rural Minnesota - January 2018 - Kelly Asche | PDF",1792044267]