School formats
Online and cyber charter schools
An online charter school is a public school with no building for most of its students. It is free, it is open to applicants across its state, and it works nothing like the school it replaces.
By Charter Schools Directory editorial team· Reviewed September 28, 2026 · Format counts from the 2024–25 Common Core of Data· Sources and methodology
Three different things share the name
- Fully virtual (288 schools here)
- All instruction online. Students may never enter a building except for state testing. Enrolment is usually statewide.
- Virtual with in-person options (123 schools)
- A hybrid: online core teaching plus learning centres, labs, tutoring or social days. Often the better fit for younger children.
- Supplemental virtual (774 schools)
- An ordinary school that also offers some courses online — credit recovery, advanced classes it cannot staff, or a flexible timetable for some students.
The distinction matters when you compare schools, because a “virtual” label can mean a child is at a kitchen table all year or in a building three days a week. Each school profile on this site shows the format the school itself reported.
Where they are
Virtual charters cluster in states whose charter law makes them straightforward to authorize. The ten states with the most in this directory:
| State | Schools with a virtual programme |
|---|---|
| California | 108 |
| Wisconsin | 55 |
| Arizona | 43 |
| Michigan | 23 |
| Minnesota | 23 |
| Oregon | 20 |
| Ohio | 19 |
| Oklahoma | 17 |
| Pennsylvania | 14 |
| Florida | 10 |
411 of 8,068 schools report a fully virtual or hybrid format.
What the research says, honestly
Large-scale studies of full-time online charter schools have repeatedly found weaker average academic growth than comparable in-person schools, with the gap widest in mathematics. Attendance and completion rates are also harder to sustain online.
That is an average, and averages hide the schools at either end. It does mean the burden of proof sits with the individual school: ask for its own growth data, its graduation rate, and how many students who started the year finished it there.
Ten questions before you enrol
- How many hours a day is live, teacher-led instruction, and at what times?
- How much adult supervision does the school expect at home?
- What equipment and internet support is provided?
- What is the student-to-teacher ratio in a live class?
- How are special education services and IEPs delivered online?
- What happens if a student falls behind — what is the intervention?
- How are state tests taken, and where?
- What in-person opportunities exist: labs, clubs, sport, graduation?
- What proportion of students stay enrolled all year?
- Can a student return to their district school mid-year if it does not work?
Frequently asked questions
What is a cyber charter school?
A public charter school that delivers all or most of its teaching online. It is tuition-free, must serve any eligible student who applies, and is accountable to an authorizer in the same way as a bricks-and-mortar charter. Pennsylvania uses the term “cyber charter”; elsewhere they are usually called virtual or online charter schools.
Are online charter schools free?
Yes. They are public schools and charge no tuition. Most lend a laptop and many contribute to internet costs; ask what is provided before you enrol.
Are online charter schools any good?
Results have been mixed, and several large studies of full-time virtual charters have found weaker academic growth than comparable bricks-and-mortar schools, particularly in maths. That is an average across schools, not a verdict on a specific one — ask any school you are considering for its own current results.
Who do online charter schools suit?
Students with medical needs, competing commitments such as elite sport or performance, those who travel, and those for whom a physical school has become unsafe or unworkable. They ask a great deal of a family: someone has to be present and organised during the day.
Can I enrol from anywhere in the state?
Usually yes, within the state that authorized the school; they rarely cross state lines. Residency is still checked, and the local district may be involved in funding.
Do online charter schools have any in-person element?
Some do. This directory lists 123 schools reporting a virtual programme with in-person options, alongside 288 fully virtual schools.
Background: what is a charter school · what families actually pay · charter schools by state. Format data from the 2024–25 Common Core of Data (Common Core of Data (NCES), via Education Data Portal, Urban Institute), accessed 2026-09-14.