(The Center Square) – Within 10 days of a new school choice application process, roughly 600 private schools have registered with the Texas Comptroller’s Office to participate in the program.
The Texas Comptroller’s Office, which manages Texas’ new Education Savings Account program, Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA), began implementing program processes in October, The Center Square reported.
It did so after the Texas Legislature created the state’s first Education Savings Account program this year, which was seen as a major accomplishment of Gov. Greg Abbott, who spearheaded the effort. After state House Republicans opposed an ESA bill that passed the Texas Senate in previous years, Abbott helped get 16 pro-school choice Republican representatives elected last year. This year, they delivered and passed the state’s first ESA program, which Abbott signed into law in May, The Center Square reported.
The program, which becomes effective in the 2026–27 school year, provides taxpayer-funded ESA grants of $10,000 to roughly 100,000 students through a pilot program created by the new law. ESA funds will be made available to eligible parents to send their child to a school of their choice, for private school tuition, educational expenses for homeschoolers, tutoring, career and technical education programs, among other expenses.
In the first 10 days of receiving educator applications, the Comptroller’s Office said roughly 600 private schools and prekindergarten providers and more than 200 education service providers, including tutors, had applied from across the state.
“Participation growth is expected during and after winter academic breaks as additional schools join the program ahead of the 2026-27 school year,” it said.
“Families deserve to have clear information, real options and confidence as they plan for their children’s education for the upcoming school year,” Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock said. “TEFA is designed to put parents in the driver’s seat, and the early responses from schools show that Texas families will have meaningful choices when applications open in February.”
The comptroller’s office selected Odyssey as the certified educational assistance organization to assist with administering TEFA. It was tasked with creating an online portal to provide information about the application process, access to the application, a search engine for eligible schools and service providers and a centralized process to pay for eligible education expenses.
Now, the comptroller’s office has launched a new TEFA website, EducationFreedom.Texas.Gov, which provides resources for families, including a school finder tool that allows parents to search participating private schools in their area. It also has a “Parent Prep Checklist” tool to help families navigate the process. Additional guidance will be published in the coming weeks to help families navigate the application process, it says.
Parents may apply to participate in TEFA between Feb. 4 and March 17, 2026.
The new law requires applications to be prioritized by economic thresholds with low-income families being prioritized. A lottery will be used if applications exceed available funding. The comptroller’s office says it anticipates providing the first award notifications in early April.
Last week, the Texas Education Agency informed the comptroller’s office that participating TEFA students enrolled in a participating private school will receive $10,474 for the 2026–27 school year. That represents 85% of the statewide average of state and local funding per public school student as required by statute, the comptroller’s office says.
Eligible special needs students participating in an Individualized Education Program may receive up to $30,000 in ESA TEFA funds based on their educational needs. Eligible participating homeschool students will receive $2,000, according to the new law.
Abbott, Hancock and state lawmakers argue the $1 billion TEFA is the largest first-year school choice program in the country.
