Once families accept, funds will be released by July to be used during the 2026-27 school year.
HOUSTON — If you applied for Texas’ new school voucher program, you’ll want to check your email.
The state reportedly sent notices to “Tier One” families earlier this week and notifications are expected to be sent to families in the other tiers in the coming weeks.
Once families accept, funds will be released by July to be used during the 2026-27 school year.
How the program works
Families applied online through the state’s Education Freedom website.
The program is not first-come, first-served. Anyone who applied before the deadline was considered equally.
If approved, families can receive funding to help cover education costs, including:
Private school tuitionHomeschool curriculumTutoring and other approved expenses
About $10,000 per student on averageUp to $30,000 for students with disabilitiesAround $2,000 for homeschool students
Why a lottery was used
Because of high demand, the state used a lottery system to determine who receives funding. The program is funded at about $1 billion, which is not enough to cover all applicants.
When applications first opened, KHOU 11 spoke with a spokesperson for the Texas Comptroller’s Office, who explained how that priority system works.
“The first group that’s prioritized in that lottery is going to be students with disabilities — if you’re a family earning less than about $165,000 per year. So, students with disabilities in that income bracket receive the highest priority,” said Travis Pillow.
“After that, students in low-income households receive the second priority. Then families under that same income threshold without a disability fall into the third group — and finally, all other students are last.”
Officials say the goal is to ensure students with the greatest needs are prioritized first.
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