America’s School Choice Programs Ranked by Participation, 2025 Edition
EdChoice tracks every private school choice program and how many students participate nationally. In this annual post, we rank all programs by participation counts, current at the time of writing. This ranking reflects the most recent information available, though not every program has released data from the 2024–25 school year.
While participation is a key factor in analyzing the effectiveness of a choice program, it isn’t the only metric of success. Program design is just as important. For example, many of these programs offer families tax relief for private school tuition. While historically the most widely used type of school choice, programs focused on tax relief often fail to provide immediate financial support to families. We encourage readers to pay attention to the education savings account (ESAs), vouchers, tax-credit ESAs and tax-credit scholarships that rank high in participation because these program types better empower families with the flexibility and funding to meet their children’s individual learning needs.
In 2025, participation in school choice is on the rise, especially among education savings accounts (ESAs). For the first time, an ESA is the #1 most used educational choice program in the country. Florida, Ohio, Indiana, and Arizona each administer empowering programs that rank in the top ten most participants. Ohio’s growth is especially notable, with its Income-Based Scholarship Program gaining over 55,000 new students and climbing eight spots since last year.
This list of 72 programs includes every currently active program that has released participation data. While there are more private school choice programs across the country, eight of those programs are new and haven’t reported data from their first year. We’ve also added comparisons to last year’s rankings on the right-hand side.
Learn more about each school choice program in the 2025 ABCs of School Choice (coming soon!) where we provide the most recent participation data and much more. Order your free copy today.
1. Florida Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options Program (+2)
Education Savings Account | 220,974 students
2. Illinois Tax Credits for Educational Expenses (-1)
Individual Tax Credit | 210,224 tax returns
3. Minnesota Education Deduction (-1)
Individual Tax Deduction | 125,481 tax returns
4. Iowa Tuition and Textbook Tax Credit (+1)
Individual Tax Credit | 113,947 tax returns
5. Florida Family Empowerment Scholarships for Students with Unique Abilities (+1)
Education Savings Account | 107,006 students
6. Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program (-2)
Tax-Credit Education Savings Account | 106,442 students
7. Ohio Income-Based Scholarship Program (+8)
Voucher | 88,238 students
8. Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (-1)
Education Savings Account | 83,082 students
9. Indiana Choice Scholarship Program (-1)
Voucher | 75,269 students
10. Louisiana Elementary and Secondary School Tuition Deduction (-1)
Individual Tax Deduction | 63,355 tax returns
11. Indiana Private School/Homeschool Deduction (-1)
Individual Tax Deduction | 57,628 tax returns
12. Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (-1)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 54,241 students
13. Minnesota K–12 Education Credit (+11)
Individual Tax Credit | 44,825 tax returns
14. Ohio Educational Choice Scholarship Program (-2)
Voucher | 41,303 students
15. North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Program (+4)
Voucher | 37,329 students
16. Wisconsin K–12 Private School Tuition Deduction (0)
Individual Tax Deduction | 31,860 tax returns
17. Wisconsin Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (0)
Voucher | 29,732 students
18. Arizona Low-Income Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (-5)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 29,582 students
19. Arizona Original Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (-5)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 23,826 students
20. Pennsylvania Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program (0)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 23,430 students
21. Georgia Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit (0)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 21,849 students
22. Wisconsin Parental Choice Program (Statewide) (0)
Voucher | 21,638 students
23. Arizona “Switcher” Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (-5)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 21,241 students
24. Iowa Education Savings Account Program (-1)
Education Savings Account | 16,757 students
25. Arkansas Children’s Education Freedom Account Program (NR)
Education Savings Account | 14,297 students
26. Indiana School Scholarship Tax Credit (0)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 11,405 students
27. West Virginia Hope Scholarship Program (+3)
Education Savings Account | 11,000* students *early estimate
28. Iowa School Tuition Organization Tax Credit (-3)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 10,239 students
29. Utah Fits All Scholarship Program (NR)
Education Savings Account | 10,000 students
30. Ohio Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program (-2)
Voucher | 8,650 students
31. Ohio Cleveland Scholarship Program (-2)
Voucher | 8,045 students
32. Ohio K–12 Home Education Tax Credit (NR)
Individual Tax Credit | 7,227 tax returns
33. Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program (-2)
Voucher | 5,864 students
34. New Hampshire Education Freedom Account Program (0)
Education Savings Account | 5,600 students
35. Louisiana Scholarship Program (-3)
Voucher | 5,415 students
36. Virginia Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits Program (-3)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 5,274 students
37. Ohio Autism Scholarship Program (-1)
Voucher | 5,205 students
38. Wisconsin Parental Private School Choice Program (Racine) (-1)
Voucher | 4,185 students
39. Maine Town Tuitioning Program (-4)
Voucher | 4,149 students
40. Alabama Education Scholarship Program (+1)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 3,579 students
41. Tennessee Education Savings Account Program (+4)
Education Savings Account | 3,578 students
42. North Carolina Education Student Accounts (ESA+) (-3)
Education Savings Account | 3,566 students
43. Vermont Town Tuitioning Program (-5)
Voucher | 3,541 students
44. Louisiana Tuition Donation Credit Program (-1)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 3,316 students
45. Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarships (-1)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 3,222 students
46. Wisconsin Special Needs Scholarship Program (-4)
Voucher | 3,068 students
47. Maryland Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) Program (-7)
Voucher | 2,942 students
48. Nevada Educational Choice Scholarship Program (-1)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 2,049 students
49. Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program (+6)
Tax-Credit Education Savings Account | 1,997 students
50. South Dakota Partners in Education Tax Credit Program (-2)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 1,671 students
51. South Carolina Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children Fund (-2)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 1,460 students
52. Kansas Tax Credit for Low-Income Students Scholarship Program (-1)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 1,340 students
53. Ohio K–12 Nonchartered Private School Tax Credit (NR)
Individual Tax Credit | 1,305 tax returns
54. D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (-8)
Voucher | 1,289 students
55. Oklahoma Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities (-3)
Voucher | 1,256 students
56. Utah Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship Program (0)
Tax-Credit Education Savings Account | 1,191 students
57. Arizona Lexie’s Law for Disabled and Displaced Students Tax Credit Scholarship Program (-7)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 1,168 students
58. Montana Tax Credits for Contributions to Student Scholarship Organizations (-4)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 1,050 students
59. Puerto Rico Free School Selection Program (-2)
Voucher | 878 students
60. Indiana Education Scholarship Account Program (+3)
Education Savings Account | 862 students
61. New Hampshire Education Tax Credit Program (-8)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 827 students
62. Utah Special Needs Opportunity Scholarship Program (Legacy) (+3)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 782 students
63. Tennessee Individualized Education Account Program (+3)
Education Savings Account | 692 students
64. South Carolina Refundable Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children (-5)
Individual Tax Credit | 624 tax returns
65. Rhode Island Tax Credits for Contributions to Scholarship Organizations (-4)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 478 students
66. Louisiana School Choice Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities (-4)
Voucher | 441 students
67. Arkansas Philanthropic Investment in Arkansas Kids Scholarship Program (NR)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 409 students
68. Mississippi Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Program (-4)
Education Savings Account | 345 students
69. Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for Students with Dyslexia Program (-2)
Voucher | 246 students
70. Alabama Accountability Act of 2013 Parent-Taxpayer Refundable Tax Credits (-2)
Individual Tax Credit | 50 tax returns
71. New Hampshire Town Tuitioning Program (-2)
Voucher | 17 students
72. Mississippi Nate Rogers Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program (-2)
Voucher | 11 students
