Student Funding

The commissioner of the department of education shall transfer to the scholarship organization the per-pupil adequate education grant amount, plus any differentiated aid that would have been provided to a public school for that eligible student. The transfers shall be made in accordance with the distribution of adequate education grants. On average the adequate education grant plus differentiated aid equals about $4,700.

(Last updated December 18, 2023)

Student Eligibility

A child must be a resident of New Hampshire and eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school. Additionally, their annual household income at the time of application for the program must be less than or equal to 350 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($105,000 for a family of four in 2023–24) as updated annually in the Federal Register by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. No income threshold need be met in subsequent years, provided the student otherwise qualifies. No prior public school enrollment is required.

(Last updated December 18, 2023)

EdChoice Expert Feedback

New Hampshire’s EFA program has the potential to help thousands of students access the learning environments that are the right fit for them, but policymakers could do more to expand educational opportunity.

Eligibility for the EFAs is limited to 350 percent of the Federal Poverty Line. Roughly half of New Hampshire students are eligible for a scholarship and less than one percent of students statewide actually use one of the existing choice policies in New Hampshire (tax-credit scholarships or town tuitioning vouchers).

The average EFA value is projected to be about $4,700, which is about one-fourth of the average expenditure per student at New Hampshire’s district schools.

New Hampshire’s EFA program deserves credit for being the second-most expansive in the nation in terms of eligibility. The program also avoids unnecessarily burdensome regulations.

To expand access to educational choice, New Hampshire policymakers should expand eligibility to all students.

(Last updated December 18, 2023)

Rules and Regulations

• Income Limit: 350 percent x Poverty
• Prior Year Public School Requirement: None
• Geographic Limit: Statewide
• Enrollment Cap: None
• Account Cap: Amount equal to adequate education grants, plus any differentiated aid that would have been provided to a public school
• Testing Mandates: A qualifying student must choose between the following educational assessment options:
  • a standardized norm-referenced achievement test,
  • statewide student assessment test, or
  • maintaining a portfolio of student progress managed by a certified teacher or teacher currently teaching in a nonpublic school.

Parent Requirements

• To provide an education for the eligible student in the core knowledge domains that include science, mathematics, language, government, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, the history of the constitutions of New Hampshire and the United States, and an exposure to and appreciation of art and music
• Not to enroll the eligible student as a full-time student in their resident district public school or in a charter school while participating in the EFA program
• To provide an annual record of educational attainment by having the student complete one of the following:
  • a nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement test
  • statewide student assessment test
  • the maintenance of a portfolio recording student progress managed by a certified teacher or teacher currently teaching in a nonpublic school
• To use the funds in the EFA only for qualifying expenses to educate the eligible student as established by the EFA program
• To comply with the rules and requirements of the EFA program

(Last updated December 18, 2023)

Governing Statutes

N.H. Rev. Stat. § 194–F: 1–12

(Last updated December 18, 2023)

Legal History

On December 8, 2022, the president of American Federation for Teachers-New Hampshire filed litigation challenging the state’s Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs). The teachers union alleges that EFAs unlawfully use restricted lottery funds and Education Trust Fund money, and that the act creating EFAs unlawfully delegates administrative authority to a private vendor. A Motion to Dismiss was filed by intervenor Institute for Justice and heard by the Court on September 18, 2023. Howes v. Edelblut, Merrimack County Superior Court, Case No. 217-2022-CV-01115. Pending.

(Last updated December 18, 2023)