HOUSTON \u2013 Time is running out for Texas families to apply for the state\u2019s new Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) program, a school voucher program, aimed at giving parents more flexibility in choosing their child\u2019s education. The application window closes Tuesday, March 31, at 11:59 p.m. CT.<\/p>\n
So far, more than 257,000 students statewide have applied, with Houston-area families leading the way.<\/p>\n
State data shows Houston-area families are overwhelmingly applying for the program. (Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
According to the latest data:<\/p>\n
Houston ISD: 11,526 applications<\/p>\n
Fort Bend ISD: 7,740 applications<\/p>\n
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD: 5,446 applications<\/p>\n
Katy ISD: 4,672 applications<\/p>\n
Other districts seeing high participation include Dallas ISD (8,133), Northside ISD (6,539), North East ISD (5,147), Plano ISD (4,764), Austin ISD (4,636), and Fort Worth ISD (4,549).<\/p>\n
While every applicant has a chance to be selected, the state plans to accept roughly 100,000 students.<\/p>\n
How the Program Works<\/p>\n
After the application window closes, families will be sorted into four priority tiers, which determine who receives funding first:<\/p>\n
Tier 1: Families with a child with a disability and household income at or below 500% of the federal poverty level (up to $165,000 for a family of four).<\/p>\n
Tier 2: Lower-income families at or below 200% of the federal poverty level (about $66,000 for a family of four).<\/p>\n
Tier 3: Families earning between 200% and 500% of the federal poverty level ($66,000\u2013$165,000 for a family of four).<\/p>\n
Tier 4: Families above 500% of the poverty level. Only 20% of the program\u2019s $1 billion budget is allocated for this tier, and a lottery will determine funding if there are more applicants than funds.<\/p>\n
The state will fund each tier in order, starting with Tier 1, and continue until all available funds are distributed. Award notifications begin in April.<\/p>\n
Schools and Application Details<\/p>\n
Families don\u2019t need to select a school when applying, but officials recommend doing so by June 1 for initial funding on July 1. The final school selection deadline is July 15. More than 2,300 schools, including accredited online programs, are participating, and additional schools will join on a rolling basis.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re undecided between a private school or homeschool\/other, the state advises selecting a private school for now. Changes from private school to homeschool are allowed, but not the other way around after the March 31 deadline.<\/p>\n
Families of children with disabilities should confirm their child\u2019s information with a current Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a signed disability certification form.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Time is running out for Texas families to apply for the state\u2019s new Education Freedom Accounts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[88150,88151,27,17870,29,28,33335],"class_list":["post-227873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-school-application-deadline-texas","tag-school-voucher-program-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-education-freedom-accounts","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-school-funding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}