The Texas comptroller's office is requesting that lawmakers provide more than $2 billion for the state's education savings account program, which gives participating families taxpayer dollars for private education and homeschooling.
The legislature created the program in 2025, allocating $1 billion for its launch ahead of the 2026-27 school year. Nearly 110,000 students have received state dollars from the program so far, and officials said funding should be doubled to ensure more students can enroll in the next two years.
The overview
According to the comptroller's legislative appropriations request for the 2028-29 biennium, it would cost $916 million per year to continue funding the roughly 110,000 students currently enrolled in the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program. Another $82 million annually would be needed to fund siblings of participating children who will soon qualify for the program.
More than 106,000 students are on the program's waitlist, and it would cost about $980 million per year to provide funding for them. The comptroller's office is required to provide this information under state law, and it also noted that roughly 44,000 families have expressed interest in applying for the program ahead of the 2027-28 school year.
"The Comptroller’s Office expects that the interest list will only grow larger as the state continues to promote the program and participating families communicate positive experiences to others in their communities, and the state has a moral imperative to serve these children," the appropriations request reads.
The comptroller's $2 billion base budget request would not fully cover the waitlist and interest list. If lawmakers want to provide funding for all of those students, they would need to allocate nearly $4 billion for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years, the request indicates.
During the 2025 legislative session, the nonpartisan state Legislative Budget Board projected that due to demand, lawmakers would expand program funding to $3.3 billion by 2028 and $4.8 billion by 2030.
Officials with the comptroller's office have not publicly commented on the legislative appropriations request; however, a hearing on the request will be held from 10 a.m.-noon on Sept. 9 at the Texas Capitol, per the LBB website.
How it works
The TEFA program gives families state funds to send their children to private schools or homeschool them, with priority going to students with disabilities and children from low-income households. About 24% of students participating in the TEFA program have a disability, according to previous Community Impact reporting, and 80% of participants are from low-income families.
Republican state leaders and other proponents of the program have said it will expand educational opportunities for students who are not receiving the services or support they need in their local public schools, including those who cannot afford to pay for a private education. Critics have expressed concerns that the program will unfairly benefit students already enrolled in private schools and divert funding from public schools facing financial challenges.
Participating students are receiving $10,474 each for private education and related expenses, while homeschool families can receive up to $2,000 per eligible child. Students with disabilities are eligible for up to $30,000 each, depending on their individual needs.
About 70% of students who are participating in the TEFA program or were invited to do so already attended a private school or were homeschooled, while the other 30% of students were previously enrolled in a Texas public school, state data shows. More information about the program's operation and accepted students is available here.
More details
The comptroller's office also asked for an additional $226 million to increase funding for students already enrolled in the program whose circumstances may change. The "exceptional item request," which is included alongside the base budget request, is designed to support students who will qualify for additional disability-related funding or switch educational settings, per agency documents.
Nearly 15,000 participants are expected to receive new special education documentation next school year, which would make them eligible for up to $30,000 in state funding, the request states. Roughly 7,300 students who are currently enrolled in private schools through the program also have a documented disability, per the request. On average, those students receive $10,474 for private school expenses plus an additional $5,000 for special education costs.
The comptroller's office said roughly 4,200 students who are currently enrolled in homeschools are likely to transfer to private schools during the program's second year.
Something to note
In July, Gov. Greg Abbott and legislative leaders directed nearly all state agencies to reduce their base budget requests for the 2028-29 biennium by 3%, which they said was necessary to "maintain Texas’ strong fiscal position." A few state programs, including "the continued full funding of public education" and "projected [TEFA] participation," were exempt from the reduction, officials said.
