New school choice program accepts over 3,300 students

Texas’ first Education Savings Account program launched in February with 274,183 students applying. The number of applicants set a national record for the first year of a new school choice program, according to the state comptroller’s office, which is administering the program. 

After the Memorial Day holiday, 3,317 waitlisted students began receiving notifications that they had been accepted after more funding was made available. This was due to previously accepted students opting out of TEFA or selecting “homeschool/other,” reducing their allotted funding amount to $2,000. 

Another 294 special education students and 183 of their siblings were also accepted into the program, the comptroller’s office said. 

With these additional students, and including the nearly 96,000 previously awarded students, slightly fewer than the allotted 100,000 students have been awarded TEFA as of the end of May. 

Of those who first received acceptance notifications, approximately 1,400 opted out of the program, leaving just over 98,000 active awards, according to comptroller data.

“We will continue to maintain a dynamic waitlist. More students will receive awards as families opt out and appeals get resolved,” the comptroller’s office said. “Families will receive updates by email, by text message and through the program portal if their status changes.”

In April, the first round of students, more than 42,600, were notified of their acceptance to TEFA. In early May, the second round, more than 53,000, were notified, The Center Square reported.

The first round included priority students stipulated by law: Tier 1 students and their siblings with qualifying disabilities in households at or below 500% of the federal poverty level. The second round included Tier 2 students from households with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or $66,000 per year for a family of four, according to a state law governing the program.

The newly awarded previously waitlisted students were classified as Tier 2.

Last year, the Texas Legislature established taxpayer-funded ESAs through TEFA. It allows families to enroll their children in a school of their choice, pay for private school tuition, homeschool expenses, tutoring, career and technical education programs, among other expenses. 

The Legislature allocated $1 billion to fund TEFA to support up to roughly 100,000 students. The program allocates roughly $30,000 for disabled students, $10,000 for other students and $2,000 for homeschool students. Eligibility is based on economic need, prioritizing disabled and low-income students, divided in tiers. 

Because demand exceeded slots, more than half of eligible applicants were waitlisted. After Tier 1 students received notifications and accepted, the total number of Tier 2 students exceeded available funding. As a result, accepted applicants were chosen by a random lottery, as required by state law, the comptroller’s office said. 

The newly awarded students have until July 15 to confirm their enrollment in a TEFA participating private school, select homeschool or other or opt out. Those who opt out will potentially make available additional funding for waitlisted students.

The award notifications were sent out ahead of a July 1 deadline for a $1 million Yass Prize school choice award for which education providers in Texas and nationwide were encouraged to apply.

Last year, 11 education providers from eight states received $4 million through a Texas Yass Prize Education Freedom Award created to support families participating in Texas’ first school choice program, The Center Square reported.