Texas made history last week after more than 42,000 families applied for the state’s universal school choice program as soon as the application window opened, acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced.
“This record-breaking response shows a powerful groundswell across our state of parents who are excited about the freedom to choose the best possible education for their child, and we’re proud to deliver a program that puts students first,” he said in a Feb. 5 statement.
Texas is the largest state in the country to offer universal school choice. The $1 billion program titled Texas Education Freedom Accounts takes effect for the 2026–2027 academic year. It provides provides up to $10,000 per selected child in an education savings account that can be used for private school vouchers. It also provides up to $30,000 for special education students who choose a different school and up to $2,000 for homeschooling expenses.
Hancock said that Texas beat a record held by Tennessee, which received 33,000 applications in one day for its school choice program 2025.
The Texas program started on Feb. 4. A day later, after Hancock’s late-morning announcement, the number of applicants increased by 4,000. The deadline for families to apply is March 17.
The program does not operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Rather, the lowest-income students and those with disabilities receive top priority. So far, 34 percent of the applicants are from households below 200 percent of the poverty level—$66,000 for a family of four—and 38 percent have household incomes between 200 percent and 500 percent of the federal poverty level—$165,000 for a family of four—Hancock said.
He said that of the students who applied on Feb. 4, 80.3 percent indicated that they plan to attend a participating private school next year, and 19.7 percent plan to choose another option, such as homeschooling.
As an education savings plan in which qualifying recipients can set up a savings account for school expenses—similar to a health savings account—it also provides money for school transportation, meals, and other services.
Abbott previously announced that he will opt Texas into the federal scholarship tax program, which allows each American taxpayer to receive up to a $1,700 dollar-for-dollar credit for contributing to a private school scholarship-granting organization in his or her state.
“Texas has delivered on its promise to bring education freedom to every Texas family,” he said in a Dec. 10 statement. “This critical program will increase the opportunity for families to choose the educational setting that works best for their child.”
Last month, the American Federation for Children, a national organization that tracks and advocates for universal school choice across the United States, announced a $10 million fund to support the federal scholarship tax program, and it stated that it is working with Odyssey, a software company, to “serve as many children as possible, as quickly as possible, especially those who need it most.”
“The future of American education is here,” Tommy Schultz, the federation’s CEO, said in a Feb. 2 statement. “The first national school choice law is a hard-won victory and a moment of immense opportunity.”
