Drawing across school boundaries: How federally-funded magnet schools recruit and admit students

A key goal of many magnet programs is to improve student diversity in schools. This snapshot, based on surveys completed by most of the more than 160 schools recently funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) grants and interviews with their district coordinators, describes how MSAP-funded magnet schools recruit and admit students. Schools report using a variety of strategies to recruit students, targeting those the schools believe are likely to exercise choice. These schools are most likely to give preference in admissions to siblings of students already enrolled in the magnet and students in nearby neighborhoods or schools.