Texas School Voucher Applications Hit 200,000 as Deadline Arrives Tonight

The application window for Texas Education Freedom Accounts closes tonight at 11:59 p.m., and the numbers have already outrun the program's capacity by a wide margin. Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced Sunday that applications exceeded 200,000, more than double the roughly 90,000 slots the $1 billion program can fund in its inaugural year. "Crossing the 200,000-student mark shows just how strongly Texas families are responding to the opportunity for more educational freedom," Hancock said in the Comptroller's release.

The program, created by the Texas Legislature in 2025, provides $10,474 per student at approved private schools, up to $30,000 for students with disabilities who have an Individualized Education Program on file with the Texas Education Agency, and $2,000 for homeschooled students. But a structural timing problem has emerged for families of disabled children: public school districts have 45 school days to complete the required special education evaluations, while the TEFA application window itself spans just 41 calendar days. "With some families unaware that the evaluation was a requirement for qualifying for increased funding," KLTV reported, "families and public schools alike are under tight deadlines to get the evaluations complete."

Because the program is not first-come, first-served, state law mandates a lottery within priority tiers if demand exceeds funding. Students with disabilities and low- and middle-income families are given precedence. "This program gives parents more tools to support their child's future, and we want every eligible student to have the chance to benefit," Hancock said. More than 2,200 schools have signed up to participate, and first award notifications are expected in April. As of January 2026, the Dallas-Fort Worth metro had 195 participating schools.

Families can still apply at EducationFreedom.Texas.gov.