EdCircuit Staff 
Texas Education Freedom Accounts are the state’s new education savings accounts, which give families public money to spend on private school tuition and other approved education costs. Created by Senate Bill 2 in 2025 and run by the Texas Comptroller, the program opened in the 2026–27 school year with $1 billion and drew more applications in its first year than any school choice program in the country. About 100,000 students are now using an account, and more than 100,000 are on the waitlist.
This guide explains how the accounts work, who qualifies, how much families receive, what the money can pay for and what has happened since the program opened.
What are Texas Education Freedom Accounts?
An education savings account (ESA) is a state-funded account that parents can use for approved education expenses instead of, or alongside, public school. Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 2 on May 3, 2025, setting aside $1 billion for the 2026–27 school year. In October 2025 the Comptroller’s office named the program Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) and chose the company Odyssey to run the platform families, schools and providers use.
How much is a Texas Education Freedom Account?
For 2026–27, according to the official TEFA site:
| Student | Annual amount |
|---|---|
| Attending an accredited private school | $10,474 |
| Student with a disability and an IEP on file | Up to $30,000, based on the student’s needs |
| Homeschooled student | Up to $2,000 |
Unused money rolls over from year to year while the child stays in the program. In practice, few students receive the disability maximum: fewer than 30 students received the full $30,000, and the average award was about $7,500 to $8,000, the Texas Tribune reported.
Who qualifies?
A child must be a Texas resident who is eligible to attend a Texas public school or its pre-K or kindergarten, and a U.S. citizen, national or lawfully admitted resident. Because demand was expected to exceed funding, the law sets priority tiers:
- Students with disabilities in households at or below 500 percent of the federal poverty level (about $165,000 for a family of four).
- Students in households at or below 200 percent of the poverty level (about $66,000 for a family of four).
- Students in households between 200 and 500 percent of the poverty level.
- Students in households above 500 percent, limited to $200 million of the budget.
What can the money pay for?
Approved expenses include private school tuition and fees, textbooks and instructional materials, required uniforms, private tutoring and assessments, online courses, industry-credential programs approved by the Texas Education Agency, transportation to approved providers, and educational therapies not covered by other programs. Computer hardware and software are capped at 10 percent of a year’s funds, and payments to family members are not allowed, according to the program’s rules.
Participating private schools must have operated for at least two years, be accredited and give students in grades 3 to 12 a nationally recognized test of the school’s choosing; they do not have to use the state’s STAAR test.
How the first year unfolded
- February 4, 2026: applications opened. A record 43,000 students applied on the first day.
- March 31, 2026: the deadline, extended from March 17 to comply with a federal court order. More than 274,000 students applied, and nearly three-quarters of applicants were low- or middle-income, the Comptroller reported.
- April 22: more than 42,600 students in the first tier, students with disabilities, received award notices.
- May 4: more than 53,000 second-tier students received awards through a lottery required by state law, because demand in that tier exceeded the money available.
- Summer 2026: of more than 122,000 families invited, 85,344 accepted by late July, and the Comptroller reported 101,600 participants in August, the Texas Tribune reported.
- September 3: Comptroller Don Huffines asked lawmakers for more than $2 billion for 2028–29, saying nearly 110,000 students were funded and more than 106,000 were on the waitlist.
Who is using the accounts?
An August report described the first-year participants: about 24 percent have disabilities; about 68,000 come from low-income households; and pre-K is the largest single grade. About 70 percent of families who joined or had pending invitations had previously used private school or homeschooling, and most families who declined came from public schools, according to the Tribune’s analysis. More than 2,400 private schools had been accepted by spring.
Those figures cut both ways. Supporters point to the record demand and the number of low-income students and students with disabilities. The same data raise the questions lawmakers will weigh next: how much of the money reaches students who were in public school, and how much the program will cost if the waitlist is funded.
Disputes and the next budget
The program faced a legal challenge in its first months. Muslim parents and three Islamic schools sued after the Comptroller’s office excluded hundreds of schools accredited by a particular agency; a federal judge ordered the application deadline extended, and the office later approved the named Islamic schools, the Texas Tribune reported.
The bigger question is cost. The Legislature returns in January 2027 and will decide whether to fund the Comptroller’s request to more than double the program for 2028–29.
What school and district leaders should know
- Enrollment planning. Districts in the largest metros, where most participants live, should track how many students leave and how many were already in private schools.
- Special education. Families of students with IEPs who are considering a private school should ask what services that school will provide, since services in a private school do not work the same way as an IEP in a public school.
- Communication. Families will ask about the program. Clear, neutral information about both options helps them decide.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Texas Education Freedom Account? $10,474 a year for a private school student in 2026–27, up to $30,000 for a student with a disability based on need, and up to $2,000 for a homeschooled student.
Who runs the program? The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, with the company Odyssey managing the accounts.
Can I still apply? Applications for 2026–27 closed on March 31, 2026, and more than 100,000 students are on the waitlist. Check the official TEFA site for future application dates.
Do private schools have to take the STAAR test? No. They must give students in grades 3 to 12 a nationally recognized test of their choosing.
Is a Texas Education Freedom Account a voucher? It is an education savings account. Unlike a traditional voucher, which pays tuition at one school, the money can be spread across tuition, tutoring, materials and other approved expenses.
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