The state’s debut Texas Training Freedom Account program, which put aside $1 billion to present households public funds for personal college tuition and schooling providers, capped at roughly 96,000 college students this week.
Of these, 8,676 college students are within the San Antonio space throughout 16 college districts. Greater than twice as many, 21,483, college students initially utilized for the funds.
“This primary 12 months is groundbreaking for Texas,” mentioned Kelly Hancock, appearing Texas comptroller of public accounts. His workplace is overseeing the voucher-like program.
Unsurprisingly, San Antonio’s largest districts noticed the biggest variety of candidates and awardees within the space, together with Northside ISD, the place 2,537 college students bought award notifications out of almost 7,000 who utilized.
In North East ISD, 1,748 college students might get awards out of 5,414 candidates; at San Antonio ISD, there’s 1,405 awardees out of two,236.
Whereas the state hasn’t launched what number of of these college students are at present enrolled in public college, the general public does know the place college students went to high school throughout the 2024-25 college 12 months. Roughly a 3rd of San Antonio candidates attended public college final 12 months.
This outpaced the state’s charge — about 25% — of scholars who utilized for a TEFA and had been beforehand enrolled in public college.
Statewide, over 270,000 college students utilized earlier than the applying window closed in March, and this week, obtainable funding capped these accepted at 95,935.
The primary award notifications went out in late April to about 3,800 in San Antonio. These included kids with disabilities, and their siblings, whose households make as much as 500% of the federal poverty stage, which is $165,000 per 12 months or much less for a household of 4.
These households are more likely to get larger awards, as much as $30,000, based mostly on particular schooling wants. Different households will get nearer to $10,500 and homeschool households can solely get $2,000.
This week, second-priority award notifications went out to a different 4,000 households within the San Antonio space, which incorporates households dwelling at or under 200% of the poverty stage, which is an annual earnings of $66,000 or much less for a household of 4.
These households had been picked by way of a lottery system after the state awarded all eligible first-priority college students.
Statewide college voucher information
Statewide, 42,600 households certified for the first-priority tier and over 51,000 match within the second-priority group.
Forty-three % of awardees throughout Texas had enrolled in public college throughout the 2024-25 college 12 months, and 70% indicated they plan to attend a non-public college for the upcoming 2026-27 college 12 months.
From the statewide pool of scholars awarded a TEFA, 38% are white, 27% are Hispanic and 16% are Black.
By comparability, 24% of 5.5 million public college college students in Texas are white, 53% are Hispanic and 13% are Black. In San Antonio, 64.4% of the inhabitants identifies as Hispanic or Latino in accordance the U.S. Census Bureau.
State officers plan to inform all households, no matter their precedence standing, with their software standing by Monday, Could 11, however not all awardees are anticipated to say or spend their awards.
Awardees have till July 15 to both affirm personal college enrollment for the upcoming 2026-27 12 months, choose a homeschool, or choose out of this system. This course of might open funding up for waitlisted college students.
There’s additionally funding reserved for appeals, and households have 30 days after notification to enchantment their baby’s funding quantity, software precedence or ineligibility.
