State officials must decide in the coming years if they’ll participate in the first major federal program that directs public funds to private schools.
Congress last July included a tax-credit scholarship in the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act, allowing taxpayers to claim tax credits in exchange for donations to organizations that grant private school scholarships.
Until now, all major private school choice programs have been state-level initiatives. But the federal tax-credit scholarship forces all states and the District of Columbia to decide on private school choice, whether they currently have a choice program of their own or don’t.
State decisions on opting in so far
Under the new law, individual taxpayers can claim a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for up to $1,700 in donations to nonprofit organizations that award scholarships so K-12 students can attend private schools.
Students whose family income does not exceed 300% of their area’s median gross income—a broad pool of potential recipients—are eligible to receive scholarship funds as long as their state opts into the scholarship program. The federal law does not specify the size of scholarships awarded.
The scholarships could cover a range of expenses. In addition to tuition at private schools, including religious schools, they could pay for tutoring, school uniforms, technology, after-school programs, transportation, and services for students with disabilities. Scholarships can cover “a broad set of expenses incurred in connection with or required by any K-12 public, private, or charter school,” the U.S. Department of Education said in a January 2026 fact sheet on the program.
Taxpayers can claim credits starting in the 2027 tax year, and the Internal Revenue Service on Dec. 12, 2025, formally launched the process allowing states to opt into the program. The Department of the Treasury is also developing more specific regulations governing the program.
The law generally charges governors with deciding whether to enroll their states in the program, but lawmakers in some states have taken action to enroll their states. More than half of states have made decisions on opting in.
To date, all but one Republican-led state has taken action to opt in. Republican governors expect to use the federal offering to complement their own state programs or, in the few Republican-led states without private school choice, to create their own.
Democratic governors have been more skeptical, with many saying they’re still awaiting federal regulations before deciding. A handful have said they’re looking into how the funding could help low-income students or support public school students.
Partisan breakdown of state decisions
Read Education Week’s coverage of the federal private school choice program
- They Said No to the Federal School Choice Program. Now, 3 Dems Are Reconsidering, March 4, 2026
- The Federal Choice Program Is Here. Will It Help Public School Students, Too?, Feb. 5, 2026
- Federal Program Will Bring Private School Choice to At Least 4 New States, Jan. 26, 2026
- As School Choice Goes Universal, What New Research Is Showing, Jan. 15, 2026
- The Senate Passed a Federal Voucher Program. What’s in It?, July 7, 2025
- Opt In or Not? States Weigh Big Decision on Federal School Vouchers, Aug. 4, 2025
For more information on state private school choice programs, visit our tracker of state programs.
Contact information
For media or research inquiries about this data, contact library@educationweek.org.
How to cite this page
Federal Private School Choice: Which States Are Opting In? (2025, Aug. 27). Education Week. Retrieved Month Day, Year from https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/federal-private-school-choice-which-states-are-opting-in/2025/08
