America’s School Choice Programs Ranked by Participation, 2019 Edition
Which of America’s school choice programs has the most students participating? What about the least?
In this post, we rank America’s school choice programs by how many participants they have, based on the most recent data available for each program and as reported in the 2019 edition of The ABCs of School Choice. Note: Last year’s rankings are in parentheses following each program name.
Though participation is an important metric for school choice programs, program design can be far more important. For instance, most of the top five programs ranked below offer families tax relief for private school tuition, meaning the programs serve only families who can already foot the bill for private schooling out of pocket. Such programs often fail to provide immediate financial support to families of all income levels. Education savings accounts (ESAs), vouchers and tax-credit scholarships, however, have the ability to provide families with the needed flexibility and funding to meet their children’s educational needs.
Stay tuned to our blog this week for more rankings and our annual superlatives post, where we assess programs holistically and provide our readers with a list of states to watch in 2019.
1. Illinois’s Tax Credits for Educational Expenses (1)
Individual Tax Credit | 297,492 tax returns
2. Minnesota’s Education Deduction (2)
Individual Tax Deduction | 212,160 tax returns
3. Iowa’s Tuition and Textbook Tax Credit (3)
Individual Tax Credit | 117,788 tax returns
4. Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program (4)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 99,453 students
5. Louisiana’s Elementary & Secondary School Tuition Deduction (5)
Individual Tax Deduction | 77,097 tax returns
6. Indiana’s Private School/Homeschool Deduction (6)
Individual Tax Deduction | 56,025 tax returns
7. Minnesota’s K–12 Education Credit (7)
Individual Tax Credit | 46,948 tax returns
8. Wisconsin’s K–12 Private School Tuition Deduction (8)
Individual Tax Deduction | 37,07 tax returns
9. Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program (9)
Voucher | 35,458 students
10. Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (11)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 34,421 scholarships
11. Arizona’s Original Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (10)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 31,578 scholarships
12. Florida’s John M. McKay Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program (12)
Voucher | 29,462 students
13. Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (13)
Voucher | 28,067 students
14. Ohio’s Educational Choice Scholarship Program (14)
Voucher | 22,608 students
15. Arizona’s “Switcher” Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (15)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 20,976 scholarships
16. Arizona’s Low-Income Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (16)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 20,076 scholarships
17. Pennsylvania’s Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program (18)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 14,556 scholarships
18. Georgia’s Qualified Educational Expense Tax Credit (17)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 13,247 scholarships
19. Florida’s Gardiner Scholarships (20)
ESA | 11,917 students
20. Iowa’s School Tuition Organization Tax Credit (19)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 10,752 scholarships
21. Indiana’s School Scholarship Tax Credit (21)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 9,743 scholarships
22. Ohio’s Income-Based Scholarship Program (23)
Voucher | 9,532 students
23. North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarships (25)
Voucher | 8,553 students
24. Ohio’s Cleveland Scholarship Program (22)
Voucher | 7,682 students
25. Louisiana Scholarship Program (24)
Voucher | 6,909 students
26. Wisconsin’s Parental Choice Program (Statewide) (28)
Voucher | 6,878 students
27. Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (29)
ESA | 6,028 students
28. Ohio’s Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program (27)
Voucher | 5,621 students
29. Maine’s Town Tuitioning Program (26)
Voucher | 5,091 students
30. Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program (30)
Voucher | 4,664 students
31. Virginia’s Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits Program (33)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 4,335 students
32. Alabama’s Education Scholarship Program (34)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 3,668 students
33. Ohio’s Autism Scholarship (31)
Voucher | 3,668 students
34. Maryland’s Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) Program (36)
Voucher | 3,410 students
35. Vermont’s Town Tuitioning Program (32)
Voucher | 3,350 students
36. Wisconsin’s Parental Private School Choice Program (Racine) (35)
Voucher | 3,242 students
37. Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarships (37)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 3,033 students
38. Nevada’s Educational Choice Scholarship Program (39)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 2,816 scholarships
39. South Carolina’s Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children (38)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 1,951 students
40. Louisiana’s Tuition Donation Credit Program (40)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 1,703 students
41. Washington D.C.’s Opportunity Scholarships Program (42)
Voucher | 1,645 students
42. North Carolina’s Special Education Scholarship Grants for Children with Disabilities (41)
Voucher | 1,245 students
43. Utah’s Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship (44)
Voucher | 978 students
44. Arizona’s Lexie’s Law for Disabled and Displaced Students Tax Credit Scholarship Program (43)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 936 scholarships
45. Oklahoma’s Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities (45)
Voucher | 827 students
46. Wisconsin’s Special Needs Scholarship Program (50)
Voucher | 692 students
47. South Carolina’s Refundable Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children (NR)
Individual Tax Credit | 508 tax returns
48. South Dakota’s Partners in Education Tax Credit Program (49)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 481 students
49. New Hampshire’s Education Tax Credit Program (48)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 413 students
50. Rhode Island’s Tax Credits for Contributions to Scholarship Organizations (46)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 397 students
51. Louisiana’s School Choice Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities (47)
Voucher | 391 students
52. Kansas’s Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program (52)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 369 students
53. Mississippi’s Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Program (51)
ESA | 356 students
54. North Carolina’s Personal Education Savings Account (NR)
ESA | 268 students
55. Arkansas’s Succeed Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities (54)
Voucher | 260 students
56. Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for Students with Dyslexia Program (53)
Voucher | 252 students
57. Alabama’s Accountability Act of 2013 Parent/Taxpayer Refundable Tax Credits (55)
Individual Tax Credit | 145 tax returns
58. Tennessee’s Individualized Education Account Program (56)
ESA | 137 students
59. Florida’s Hope Scholarship Program (NEW)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 66 students
60. Montana’s Tax Credits for Contributions to Student Scholarship Organizations (57)*
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 25 students
*A December decision from the Montana Supreme Court rendered this program inoperable; however, proponents of the program are attempting to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
61. New Hampshire’s Town Tuitioning Program (NR)
Voucher | 9 students
62. Mississippi’s Nate Rogers Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program (8)
Voucher | 1 student
63. Illinois’s Invest in Kids Program (NR)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | First-year data not yet reported
NR. Puerto Rico’s Free School Selection Program (NEW)
Voucher | Launches Fall 2019
NR. Nevada’s Education Savings Account (NR)
ESA | Not yet operating
