America’s School Choice Programs Ranked By Eligibility, 2016 Edition

At the Friedman Foundation, our goal for any school choice program is universal eligibility. We believe that all parents—regardless of ZIP Code, income, or any other factors—should have access to flexible educational options. You can find specific program eligibility rates in this year’s ABCs of School Choice, or check out this comprehensive list for programs ranked by school choice eligibility.

We calculate school choice eligibility based on the number of families with children in the state who are able to participate in that school choice program. Look for a more in-depth blog post on our eligibility calculations next week.

It’s important to understand that just because a program has high eligibility doesn’t mean it will have high participation. As today’s participation rankings showed, not every family who is eligible for school choice will choose to use an educational choice program, but we believe that such options should be available should parents choose them.

Tomorrow, we’ll show how important funding is to this equation. All too often, states with 100 percent school choice eligibility have very low funding, making these programs difficult for many families who need stronger purchasing power.

1. Ohio’s Cleveland Scholarship Program
Voucher | 100% of students eligible

2. Montana’s Tax Credits for Contributions to Student Scholarship Organizations
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 100% of students eligible

3. Minnesota’s Education Deduction
Individual Tax Deduction | 100% of taxpaying families with children eligible

4. Illinois’s Tax Credits for Educational Expenses
Individual Tax Credit | 100% of taxpaying families with children eligible

5. Iowa’s Tuition and Textbook Tax Credits
Individual Tax Credit | 100% of taxpaying families with children eligible

6. Arizona’s “Switcher” Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 99.7% of families with children eligible

7. Arizona’s Original Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 99.6% of families with children eligible

8. Nevada’s Education Savings Account
Education Savings Account | 95.6% of students eligible

9. Douglas County, Colorado’s Choice Scholarship Program
Voucher | 95.1% of children eligible

10. Georgia’s Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 93.3% of children eligible

11. Oklahoma’s Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 78.5% of families with children eligible

12. Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Parental Choice Program
Voucher | 68.1% of families with children eligible

13. Ohio’s Income-Based Scholarship
Voucher | 60.0% of families with children eligible

14. Indiana’s Choice Scholarship
Voucher | 58.7% of students eligible

15. Alabama’s Education Scholarship
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 56.8% of families with children eligible

16. Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 54.5% of families with children eligible

17. Nevada’s Educational Choice Scholarship Program
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 53.7% of families with children eligible

18. Arizona’s Low-Income Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 53.5% of families with children eligible

19. Indiana’s School Scholarship Tax Credit
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 52.1% of families with children eligible

20. Wisconsin’s Parental Private School Choice Program (Racine)
Voucher | 45.2% of families with children eligible

21. Louisiana’s Tuition Donation Rebate
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 43.9% of families with children eligible

22. North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship
Voucher | 42.7% of families with children eligible

23. Rhode Island Tax Credits for Contributions to Scholarship Organizations
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 38.3% of families with children eligible

24. Iowa’s School Tuition Organization Tax Credit
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 35.9% of families with children eligible

25. Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 35.2% of families with children eligible

26. Washington, D.C.’s Opportunity Scholarship
Voucher | 35.0% of families with children eligible

27. Virginia’s Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credit
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 33.1% of families with children eligible

28. New Hampshire’s Education Tax Credit
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 29.9% of families with children eligible

29. Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account
Education Savings Account | 22.4% of students eligible

30. Kansas’s Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 21.5% of families with children eligible

31. Minnesota’s K–12 Education Credit
Individual Tax Credit | 21.3% of families with children eligible

32. Louisiana Scholarships
Voucher | 20.0% of students eligible

33. Wisconsin’s Parental Choice Program (Statewide)
Voucher | 15.8% of families with children eligible

34. Oklahoma’s Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities
Voucher | 15.5% of students eligible

35. Louisiana’s Elementary and Secondary School Tuition Deduction
Individual Tax Deduction | 14.4% of students eligible

36. Ohio’s Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship
Voucher | 13.6% of students eligible

37. Wisconsin Special Needs Scholarship Program
Voucher | 13.2% of students eligible

38. South Carolina’s Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 13.1% of students eligible

39. Arkansas’s Succeed Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities
Voucher | 13.0% of students eligible

40. Florida’s John McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities
Voucher | 13.0% of students eligible

41. South Carolina’s Refundable Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children
Individual Tax Credit | 12.9% of students eligible

42. Mississippi’s Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Program
Education Savings Account | 12.1% of students eligible

43. Utah’s Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship
Voucher | 12.1% of students eligible

44. North Carolina’s Special Education Scholarship Grant
Voucher | 12.1% of students eligible

45. Wisconsin’s K–12 Private School Tuition Tax Deduction
Individual Tax Deduction | 12.1% of taxpaying families with children eligible

46. Florida’s Gardiner Scholarships
Education Savings Account | 12.1% of students eligible

47. Arizona’s Lexie’s Law Corporate Tax Credits
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 11.7% of students eligible

48. Georgia Special Needs Scholarship
Voucher | 10.8% of students eligible

49. Ohio’s Educational Choice Scholarships
Voucher | 10.1% of students eligible

50. Indiana’s Private School/Homeschool Deduction
Individual Tax Deduction | 9.8% of students eligible

51. Pennsylvania’s Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 7.0% of students eligible

52. Louisiana’s School Choice Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities
Voucher | 6.5% of students eligible

53. Vermont’s Town Tuitioning
Voucher | 4.1% of students eligible

54. Alabama’s Parent-Taxpayer Refundable Tax Credit
Individual Tax Credit | 3.1% of students eligible

55. Maine Town Tuitioning
Voucher | 2.9% of students eligible

56. Mississippi’s Nate Rogers Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program
Voucher | 2.6% of students eligible

57. Mississippi’s Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship
Voucher | 2.3% of students eligible

58. Tennessee’s Individualized Education Accounts
Education Savings Account | 1.7% of students eligible

59. Ohio’s Autism Scholarship
Voucher | 1.2% of students eligible