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About 1.5 million U.S. students are participating in some form of private school choice, according to EdChoice data updated in December. That's up from 1 million students in 2024. In 1996, there were just 10,000 participants.

The rapid and recent growth of school options is delighting some parents, organizations and policymakers as they decry a lack of public school programs that fit with students' and parents' unique needs and desires. Private school choice opponents, however, are concerned these programs siphon funding from public schools where most students in the U.S. learn. 

Debate on this issue is only expected to intensify as more states expand private school choice options this year and as the first federal school choice program available nationwide prepares for a 2027 launch.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is private school choice?

In short, private school choice is when taxpayer funding is used to pay private school tuition or expenses. The exact flow of the money varies by program. This differs from public school choice programs that also use taxpayer money to allow families to only choose from tuition-free public school options that are open to all qualifying students. 

Public money used for private school choice, on the other hand, typically can be used for tuition at religious schools and other private schools that can be selective with which students to admit. 

According to EdChoice, a research and advocacy organization, there are five types of private school choice financing programs: education savings accounts; school vouchers; tax-credit ESAs; tax-credit scholarships; and individual K-12 tax credits and deductions.  

It is the expansion of state-led ESAs that is helping to fuel the growth in student participation, according to EdChoice and other research. 

In 2022, there were 40,205 students nationally using ESAs. By 2025, that number escalated to 488,736, according to EdChoice. 

This program is attractive to families because it often offers flexibility in how they can use the funds, including for school tuition, tutoring, online education programs, therapies for students with disabilities, textbooks or other instructional materials, and, in some cases, college savings.

Also contributing to the swell in participation are state-led universal private school choice programs that allow all students in a state to use public funds for private school tuition, homeschool expenses and other educational costs, regardless of students' financial needs. 

According to FutureED, an educational research nonprofit, only two states had universal school choice programs in 2022. By the 2026-27 school year, it is expected that 17 states will open programs for all students.

In total, 34 states and Washington, D.C., have some sort of private school choice program. Depending on the program, the funding comes from income taxes, sales taxes, tax deductions, or charitable donations.

How the funds reach families depends on the specific program or state policy. But, typically public funds are collected by the state government and managed and distributed by a nonprofit scholarship-granting organization or deposited into individual accounts for families to pay for educational expenses.

Still, even as private school choice has expanded in recent years, total allocations add up to $8.2 billion to students in 2024. That's compared to about $762 billion spent on current expenditures by public schools, according to EdChoice.

What are the pros and cons?

Private school choice advocates say more educational options are needed because of the disappointing academic progress students are making in public schools. 

While there are many ways to measure academic progress, the National Assessment of Educational Progress is a national assessment for public and private schools to see what students know and can do in various school subjects.

On the 2024 NAEP, private Catholic school students in grades 4 and 8 outperformed their public school peers in reading and math. 

There is a host of other research showing both academic improvements and declining academic achievement of students who participated in private school choice programs. 

Private school choice proponents also emphasize the need for parental and student options spanning different educational environments and experiences. Private schools, supporters say, tend to have smaller sized classrooms and can offer more individualized attention.

Support for private school choice has increased in recent years. According to a PDK poll released in August, Nearly 60% of parents support using public funds for their child to attend a private or religious school, up from 50% in 2007. 

When looking at all choice options — including traditional public, charter and private schools — 62% of 3,960 parents of school aged children polled said they are likely to search for a new school for their child in 2026, according to a survey conducted by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation.

Public school advocates point out that taxpayer funds should be prioritized for public schools, which educate most of the nation's students. 

Most of the nation's 54.6 million pre-K-12 students in the 2021-22 school year attended a traditional public school, according to Pew Research Center. About 10% were enrolled in private schools, and another 7% attended public charter schools. 

Opponents say states will be hard-pressed to fund both public schools and unlimited universal private school choice options. Some rural communities oppose private school choice, because there may be no private school options in their areas, or because the public school system is the largest local employer.

Additionally, private school choice opponents say private schools can selectively admit students and can discriminate against students and employees in ways not allowable in public schools. Private school students also don't have the same protections under educational civil rights laws and special education law that public school students have, as many private schools don't receive direct federal funding.

Lastly, opponents criticize what they say are the lack of transparency and accountability in private school choice programs. Most state-led private school choice programs do not require participating private schools to test their students with the same statewide assessment used in public schools, according to a 2024 analysis by FutureEd.

Who can participate?

Participation depends on the eligibility requirements of each state's private school choice program. In states with universal participation, all students may be eligible to participate, but the state may have an overall spending limit cap or may limit the number of participants.

Other state programs limit participation by student financial need or by student characteristics, such as those with disabilities.

Some research shows high levels of participation from students who were already enrolled in private schools prior to a state's private school choice expansion. For instance, 25% of 2024-25 program participants in Arkansas' Education Freedom Accounts were enrolled in private schools the previous school year, according to a 2025 report by the University of Arkansas in collaboration with the Arkansas Department of Education.

Other research finds lower-than-expected participation from public school students. FutureEd research found that in Iowa, about 40% of approved applicants in 2023-24 planned to switch from public to private schools, but most did not ultimately enroll, which the organization said points to early interest but also possible barriers related to private school capacity or admissions.

But just because students have access to private school vouchers, doesn't mean they can participate. They still need to be accepted into participating private schools, as well as be able to potentially cover any tuition, transportation costs and fees that are not supported with a voucher or through other scholarships.

What's the fiscal impact on public schools?

Since much of public school K-12 funding is based on per-pupil enrollment, any deduction of public school enrollment could affect a district's budget.

However, research by FutureEd and others found that in the initial year of universal school choice programs, many participants were already private school students and thereby didn't impact their areas' public school budgets much. 

As voucher programs mature, critics warn of fiscal harms to public school systems. According to a fiscal externality calculator developed by the Economic Policy Institute, students in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District could receive $364 to $927 less in per pupil education spending — or up to $12 million to $31 million overall — due to private school vouchers.

Research released in November by Rand Corp. found that Arizona's education savings account program represented 10% of the state’s Department of Education budget in 2025 — rising from $2.2 million for the 2011-12 school year to $886 million for 2024-25.

Some Arizona public school systems like Mesa and Gilbert school districts, have lost students because of the state's ESA program, according to FutureEd.

Meanwhile, private school choice supporters say the influx of private school options will save taxpayer money. Research published by EdChoice in 2022 found that of 48 school choice programs in operation for five years through fiscal year 2022, there was a savings to state and local taxpayers of between $19.4 billion and $45.6 billion. 

The savings, the report said, come from the difference between the average public funding per student for education choice programs, which was about $6,000 in FY 2022, compared to $17,000 per student attending public schools in states where choice programs operate.

What's happening with the federal private school choice program?

A new federal tax-credit scholarship program that will allow federal individual taxpayer donations to be spent on K-12 services, including private school tuition and public school expenses is set to launch in 2027.

Approved through 2025's “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” the program would be the first nationally available private school choice program. States would need to opt into the program for their students to participate. While early enthusiasm for the program has mainly come from Republican-leaning states, Democrat-governed states are also debating the pros and cons of participation, because money can flow to public school activities.

Proponents predict the program will be popular with taxpayers, as it allows donations of up to $1,700 to be eligible for a 100% federal income tax credit. The donations could add up to $101 billion per year if all 59 million taxpayers chose to claim the credit, according to a July analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. However, it's likely that not all taxpayers would participate, the institute predicts.

Student eligibility for scholarships is based on a household income of up to 300% of an area’s median income, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Currently, the U.S. Department of Treasury is drafting proposed rules for the program that will provide policies and procedures for the scholarship-granting organizations tasked with managing and distributing the taxpayer donations to schools and families.