Which States Have Private School Choice?

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Programs that direct public money toward private schools of a family’s choosing or family accounts that can cover any education expenses outside the public school system are proliferating.

Parents say they have sought out these programs as a way to deliver an education customized to their children’s unique needs. Politicians championing them say they represent a lifeline for students trapped in underperforming schools. Critics argue the programs deprive public schools of much-needed resources and point out that many children now benefiting from private school choice funds were already attending private schools beforehand. Several private school choice programs are facing lawsuits alleging that they violate state constitutions.

Students taking advantage of private school choice represent a small fraction of the nation’s total K-12 population, but the numbers signing up for new state programs have sometimes exceeded projections.

This tracker provides a concise yet comprehensive snapshot of the private school choice landscape on a rolling basis. In our Policies to Watch section, we highlight states where new private school choice programs or other notable private school choice policy changes are under consideration. Our glossary defines common terms in discussions about school choice.

Thirty states and the District of Columbia have at least one private school choice program, according to an Education Week analysis. Of those, 19 states have at least one private school choice program that's universally accessible to K-12 students in the state or on track to be universally accessible.

20 States have tax-credit scholarships

18 States have education savings accounts

10 States and the District of Columbia have vouchers

2 States have tax-credit education savings accounts

5 States have direct tax credits

States with at least one universal private school choice program

States with one or more private school choice program

Education Savings Account (ESA)

Education savings accounts provide public per-pupil funds—often a percentage of per-student state funding—to families with children who don’t attend public schools that they can use to pay for private school tuition or other education expenses, such as tutoring and homeschooling supplies. Some states restrict ESAs or specific ESA programs within the state to students with disabilities, students attending schools with poor performance, and/or students from low-income families. Recently, more states have begun adopting universal ESAs, which all families can access regardless of income, disability status, or any other qualifying factor. ESA funds are generally given directly to families, often in the form of debit cards with restrictions on how the money can be spent. While ESAs and vouchers are often used interchangeably, what sets ESAs apart from vouchers are that they can be used for a wide array of education expenses, not just private school tuition. (See EdWeek's 2023 explainer on ESAs.)

Voucher

School vouchers describe public funds that families can use at private schools of their choice, including those that are religious, to subsidize the cost of student tuition. Many vouchers are restricted to students with disabilities, students attending poor-performing schools, and students from low-income families, but some states have vouchers that are available to any student. (See EdWeek's 2017 explainer on vouchers.)

Tax-Credit Scholarship

Tax-credit scholarship programs provide scholarships to families that they can use at private schools of their choice, including those that are religious. The scholarships most commonly come from state-authorized nonprofit organizations, which issue the scholarships out of donations that they receive from businesses or individual taxpayers who receive tax credits for those donations. Eligibility can be limited based on family income, disability status, or other factors, or it can be universal. (See EdWeek's 2024 explainer on tax-credit scholarships.)

Tax-Credit Education Savings Account

Tax-Credit ESAs are a less common form of ESA through which families receive a designated, per-pupil amount from a state-authorized nonprofit organization that administers the account. Families can use the funds to cover any educational expense, including private school tuition, tutoring, or homeschooling costs. Businesses and individual taxpayers receive tax credits for donations to those nonprofit organizations. (See EdWeek's 2024 explainer on tax-credit education savings accounts.)

Direct Tax Credit

Some states offer tax credits directly to parents to defray the cost of private school tuition or home-school expenses. Such credits are still among the rarer forms of private school choice, but they have become gradually more common as Oklahoma and Idaho most recently have adopted new tax-credit programs. States' existing tax-credit programs have varying levels of generosity. Some states offer tax deductions instead of direct credits to defray private-school tuition costs. EdWeek doesn't track these deduction programs, as they tend to cover a smaller portion of private-school costs than other forms of private-school choice. (See EdWeek's 2024 explainer on states' use of tax credits to fund private school choice.)

Universal school choice

Private school choice programs that are open to all families regardless of disability status, income, location, or public school performance. Universal policies have become more popular in recent years.

School choice

State and, to a lesser extent, federal policies and programs that allow families to send students to schools that they wouldn’t be assigned to attend in the traditional public school system. This can include charter schools; magnet schools; traditional public schools outside of a family’s assigned school zone, district, or town; homeschooling; and private schools, including those that are religiously affiliated.

Private school choice

Policies and programs that direct state and other public funds to private schools, including religious options, where families can choose to enroll their children.

Public school choice

Policies and programs that allow families to attend public schools other than the school to which a child would normally be assigned. These schools include charter schools, magnet schools, as well as traditional public schools where families proactively decide to enroll their children. This EdWeek tracker is focused on private school choice and does not include data on public school choice programs.

Magnet schools

Public schools with a specific focus, such as STEM, performing arts, or career and technical education, that are free to attend and open to all students in a district. Some magnet schools are also open to students outside of a designated district or state and require students to apply to attend.

Charter schools

Schools that receive public funding but typically operate independently of local school districts, with private nonprofits most commonly running them and less often for-profit entities. Districts or state authorizing bodies create contracts, or “charters,” with organizations that want to open charter schools, often for a designated period of time. Charters are tuition-free and are often open to all students in a district or an even broader metro area. However, they tend to have caps on enrollment and decide enrollment based on a lottery system. Because charter schools are a form of public school choice, they are not included in EdWeek’s private school choice tracker. (See EdWeek’s 2018 explainer on charter schools.)

Inter- and intra-district choice

Policies and programs that allow students to attend public schools other than those to which they would normally be assigned. Those schools can be located in the student’s home district but outside of their traditional school zone (intra-district choice) or outside of their home district (inter-district choice). These policies are sometimes referred to as open enrollment.

Policies to watch

An ongoing look at significant private school choice policy development:

The federal government
New Hampshire
Ohio
Pennsylvania

The federal government

The U.S. House of Representatives on May 22 approved a budget reconciliation bill that included an annual investment of $5 billion to create a new nationwide tax-credit scholarship program.

The program would be open to students in every state whose families earn less than 300 percent of the area median income. Donors who contribute money or stock to cover tuition for students attending private school would receive a 100 percent tax credit.

Republicans currently hold 53 Senate seats; they need only 51 votes in favor of the budget reconciliation bill to approve the new program.

On April 1, Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Jim Banks, R-Ind., also introduced a proposal to offer education savings accounts worth $6,000 a year to students whose parents are active-duty military members. Students would need to have attended public school for 100 days during the prior school year in order to participate.

New Hampshire

On June 10, Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed a bill that removes the income eligibility cap on the state’s education savings account program beginning next month.

The program currently restricts eligibility to students from families earning less than 350 percent of the federal poverty level. In July, all families will be eligible, and program enrollment will be capped at 10,000—close to double the number of currently enrolled students.

For each subsequent year, the enrollment cap will grow by 25 percent, assuming that enrollment for the previous year was 90 percent of that year’s cap. For instance, for the upcoming school year, if the number of enrolled students exceeds 9,000, the cap for the 2026-27 school year will increase to 12,500.

Ohio

The senate is considering a proposal to make students eligible for the state’s universally available voucher offering even if they are already receiving funds from one of the state’s separate voucher programs, which offer larger per-student awards for special education.

Students with disabilities currently can receive state support for private school tuition of $9,000 to $32,000 a year from the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program. Students with autism are eligible for a comparable award amount from the Autism Scholarship Program.

Right now, students participating in those programs can’t also apply for a voucher worth $6,000 to $8,000 from the state’s universal EdChoice program. If the new bill passes, the state will invest as much as $38 million to make those students eligible.

House lawmakers in late March also proposed to invest $51 million a year for a new education savings account program for students attending one of the state’s roughly 360 non-chartered private schools, which decline to comply with the state government’s rules due to their religious beliefs. The state would offer students award amounts based on a state formula that accounts for their income.

The governor must sign the budget into law by June 30.

Pennsylvania

The senate education committee on May 6 advanced a proposal for a new private school choice program that would offer $2,500 to $15,000 apiece for students living in the attendance zone of a low-achieving public school.

Pennsylvania Republicans tried and failed to pass a similar measure last year. The GOP controls the state senate while Democrats, who largely oppose the plan, control the House. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro at one point in 2023 endorsed private school choice but later pulled back his support and rejected the legislative push for new investments.