Unlocking Potential: How Choice Transforms Education for Students with Disabilities
Empowering every student to reach their full potential is the cornerstone of educational equity, especially for those with disabilities. With Disabilities Awareness Month underway, it’s a pivotal moment to spotlight the indispensable role of special needs choice programs across our nation.
The country currently boasts over 25 choice programs inclusive of or specifically targeted to serve students with disabilities, delivered through education savings accounts (ESA), tax credits, tax credit scholarships, and vouchers.
Six states offer education savings accounts specifically for students with disabilities: Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina and Tennessee. Seven states offer tax credits and tax credit scholarships specifically for students with disabilities: Alabama, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia. Seven states and the territory of Puerto Rico offer voucher programs specifically for students with disabilities: Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico and Wisconsin.
The design of programs for students with disabilities are as diverse as the families and students themselves. Eighteen programs specifically target students with special and unique learning needs. Thirteen targeted programs include pathways for participation by special needs students. There are eleven universal, or near universal programs, open to all students, with nearly half providing additional funding to special needs students or allowing students to stack funding from multiple choice programs to maximize their education options.
Jump to section:
- Education Savings Accounts for Students with Disabilities
- Tax Credits, Tax Credit Scholarships, and Tax Credit Education Savings Accounts for Students with Disabilities
- Vouchers for Students with Disabilities
- Additional Programs That Serve Students with Disabilities
Education Savings Accounts for Students with Disabilities:
Florida Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities
Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarship Program for Students with Unique Abilities allows students with special needs an opportunity to receive an education savings account (ESA) funded by the state and administered by an approved scholarship funding organization (SFO). Parents can use the funds to pay for a variety of educational services, including private school tuition and fees; instructional materials and devices; specialized services and more.
For the fall 2023-24 school year, the program had 83,499 participating students with an average account value of $9,858. Roughly 11% of students are eligible statewide and the program has about 7000 participating providers.
Indiana Education Scholarship Account Program
Indiana’s Education Scholarship Account Program is an education savings account (ESA) where students with special needs receive a portion of their assigned state education funding for private school tuition or other educational expenses, including special needs services and therapies, individual classes, testing fees, and transportation.
The Indiana ESA was Indiana’s fourth choice program. About 14% of Indiana students are eligible for the program. During fall 2023, the program had 412 participants with an average program value of $6,203. This program may be combined with Indiana’s School Scholarship Tax Credit.
Mississippi Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Program
The Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Program, an education savings account program, allows K-12 Mississippi students with special needs to receive a portion of their public funding in a government-authorized savings account with multiple uses. Seven percent of Mississippi students are eligible statewide as of the 2023-2024 school year.
The program has 104 participating schools and 381 participating students with an annual award value of $7,089. Eligible students must have had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) within the past three years. While participating in this program, students are not eligible for either a Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship or a Nate Rogers Scholarship. ESA funds may pay for tuition and fees at eligible private schools, textbooks, tutoring, testing fees, licensed therapy services, dual-enrollment courses, consumable school supplies and essential computer hardware and software.
Montana Special Needs Equal Opportunity Education Savings Account Program
In 2023 Montana enacted the Special Needs Equal Opportunity Education Savings Account program provides families of students with special needs who meet the federal definition of a “child with disabilities” under the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) an account with a maximum annual allocation up to $8,000 for flexible educational and therapeutic uses, including private school tuition. The accounts may also be used for education-related transportation.
Roughly 12% of students are eligible with an average account value of $6,000. To qualify, students must: be Montana state residents; be between the ages of five and 19; have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and be identified as having special needs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) definition of a “child with disabilities”.
North Carolina Education Student Accounts (ESA+)
North Carolina’s Personal Education Student Account for Children with Disabilities program provides families of students with special needs who meet the federal definition of a “child with disabilities” under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) an account with a maximum annual allocation of $9,000 ($17,000 for students with certain disabilities) for educational and therapeutic uses, including private school tuition. The accounts may also be used for education-related transportation.
Roughly 10% of K-12 students statewide qualify for NC Education Student Accounts. During the 2022-23 school year, the program had 3,355 participating students with an average account value of $11,230.
Tennessee Individualized Education Account Program
Tennessee’s Individualized Education Account (IEA) Program provides parents funds to pay for a variety of educational services for their children, including private school tuition, tutoring, online education, curriculum, therapy, post-secondary Tennessee educational institutions, and other defined educational services.
Students qualify if they are eligible to enroll in kindergarten through 12th grade. They must also have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and have been diagnosed with one of several medical conditions. For the 2022-23 school year, the program has 338 participating students with about 3% of students eligible statewide. The average account value was $6,968.
Tax Credits, Tax Credit Scholarships, and Tax Credit Education Savings Accounts for Students with Disabilities:
Arizona Lexie’s Law for Disabled and Displaced Students Tax Credit Scholarship Program
Arizona offers tax credits to businesses and stockholders supporting school tuition organizations (STOs), nonprofits that provide private school scholarships to students with special needs and those in foster care. Students are eligible if they (1) have a Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MET) or Individualized Education Plan (IEP) from an Arizona public school district, (2) have a 504 plan from an Arizona public school district or (3) are now or have ever been in the Arizona foster care system. Roughly 11% of students are eligible statewide with 151 participating schools. In the 2021-2022 school year, 1,345 students were awarded with an average scholarship value of $3,763. Families are able to stack scholarships with other tax credit scholarships, but students are not eligible to enroll in both a tax credit scholarship program and receive an Empowerment Scholarship Account, Arizona’s universal education savings account program.
Nebraska Opportunity Scholarships Act
The Opportunity Scholarships Act offers tax credits for individual or corporate contributions to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs), which provide private school scholarships. These nonprofits provide families private school scholarships, with priority given according to need.
Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarships
The Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship program offers individuals and businesses a tax credit for qualifying donations to scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs). Students with special needs who were served by an Individual Education Plan (IEP) while attending public school, received a qualifying diagnosis affecting learning from a clinical professional, or were provided services under an Individualized Service Plan (ISP) through the SoonerStart program and determined to be eligible for district services may also receive scholarships through the program.
Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program
The Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC) offers tax credits for corporate contributions to the following nonprofit organizations: scholarship organizations (SOs), which provide private school scholarships; educational improvement organizations (EIOs), which support innovative programs in public schools; or prekindergarten scholarship organizations (PKSOs).
Students with special needs are eligible for scholarships if they come from families who earn 150 percent of the baseline income level (for example, a family with one child may earn up to $185,545 in 2022–23) or less, and those with the most severe special needs who are enrolled in special education-specific schools are eligible if they come from families who earn 299 percent of the baseline income level ($369,854 for a one-child family in 2022–23) or less.
Pennsylvania Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program
Pennsylvania’s Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program offers corporations tax credits for their donations to scholarship organizations (SOs) that provide private school scholarships. Students who meet the zoning and income requirements can receive scholarships funded from those tax credits. Students with special needs may receive up to $15,000, and students with special needs attending economically disadvantaged schools may receive up to $19,000.
South Carolina Refundable Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children
The South Carolina Refundable Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children is a refundable tax credit program, meaning parents or guardians of students with special needs can be reimbursed, through a tax credit, for what they paid out of pocket for private school tuition. Roughly 13% of students are eligible statewide with 213 participating taxpayers who have received an average claimed credit of $9,390 in the 2020 school year.
Parents are eligible if their child has been designated by the South Carolina Department of Education as meeting the federal definition of a “child with a disability” (34 CFR § 300.8). Additionally, a student’s parents must: believe the assigned public school district does not sufficiently meet the student’s needs .
South Carolina Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children Fund
This South Carolina program offers up to 100 percent tax credits to individuals and businesses who make charitable contributions to the Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children’s Fund, which provides private school scholarships to students with special needs. Roughly 13% of students statewide are eligible. For the 2021-22 school year, 1,365 students received scholarships with an average scholarship value of $3,650.
Students are eligible to receive scholarships if they have been designated by the South Carolina Department of Education as meeting the federal definition of a “child with a disability.” Additionally, a student’s parents must believe the assigned public school district does not sufficiently meet the student’s needs, among other requirements.
Utah Special Needs Opportunity Scholarship Program
Utah’s Special Needs Opportunity Scholarship Program provides a dollar-for-dollar tax credit to individuals who donate to scholarship-granting organizations, nonprofits that provide scholarships to students with special needs to pay for a variety of educational expenses, including private school tuition, textbooks, and therapies. About 11% of students are eligible statewide. For the 2022-23 school year, the program had 345 participating students with an average scholarship value of $9,500. Students are not eligible to participate in more than one of the Utah choice programs or to stack scholarship awards.
Virginia Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits Program
Virginia’s Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits Program offers a 65 percent tax credit to individuals and businesses to donate to qualified scholarship foundations. The foundations then provide private school scholarships to students whose families meet the income requirements. Students with special needs may be funded with scholarships worth up to 300 percent of the commonwealth’s per-pupil amount if they attend specially licensed schools specifically for students with special needs.
Voucher Programs for Students with Disabilities:
Arkansas Succeed Scholarship Program
Arkansas provides private school vouchers to K- 12 students in foster care, students with disabilities, and the children of active-duty or reserve members of the U.S. military. Students who fall under these categories must have previously attended public school, unless they are children of active-duty military families or they receive a waiver from their school district. For the 2022-23 school year, the program had 51 participating schools and 795 participating students with an annual award value of $6,391.
In 2023, Arkansas created a universal education savings account program, the Education Freedom Accounts Program, which will eventually absorb the Succeed Scholarship. In the 2023-24 school year, students who had been receiving Succeed Scholarships were moved into the new EFA program and grandfathered in with the same funding they would have received through Succeed. By 2024-25, Succeed will be fully phased out so Arkansas students may use the EFA program.
Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program
The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program allows any student with a disability to receive a voucher to attend private school. Roughly 12% of Georgia students are eligible. For the 2021-22 school year, 273 schools participated in the program. Additionally, the program had 5,788 participating students with an average account value of $6,590.
To qualify, a student must have been enrolled in a Georgia public school for the entire previous school year; received special education services under an Individualized Education Plan or a Section 504 plan at any point in that year; and the student’s parent or guardian must live in Georgia currently and have been a resident for at least one year—active-duty military exempted from one-year residential requirement.
Louisiana School Choice Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities
Louisiana provides vouchers to students with certain exceptionalities in eligible parishes to attend private schools of their parents’ choosing that provide educational services specifically addressing their needs. Roughly 11% of students in the applicable parishes are eligible. For the 2022-23 school year, 21 schools participated in the program. Additionally, 428 students participated and the average voucher value was $2,436.
Students qualify if they have one of six categories of learning exceptionalities, have an Individualized Education Plan or services plan in accordance with Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, reside in a parish with more than 190,000 residents, are eligible to attend a public school, and are not deemed gifted or talented.
Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for Students with Dyslexia Program
Mississippi has the nation’s only school choice program created exclusively for students with dyslexia. The program allows children with dyslexia to receive vouchers to attend accredited private and public schools that provide dyslexia therapy. About 4% of students are eligible statewide, with 237 students participating in the 2023-24 school year. The average voucher value was $6,603.
Students must be in first through 12th grade and have been screened properly and diagnosed with dyslexia by a licensed psychometrist, psychologist, or speech language pathologist. Students are eligible if they attend a public school or if they attend a state-approved private school that “emphasizes instruction in dyslexia intervention.”
Mississippi Nate Rogers Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program
The Nate Rogers Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program is the nation’s only voucher program designed only for students with speech-language therapy needs. Students with qualifying special needs can apply for a voucher to help them attend a private school that offers speech-language therapy.
Students must be in grades K through 6 and have been screened properly and diagnosed with speech-language impairment. About 3% of students are eligible statewide. For the 2023-24 school year, the average voucher amount is $6,063.
Ohio Autism Scholarship Program
Ohio’s Autism Scholarship Program allows Ohio students with autism to receive vouchers up to $32,455 for education services from a private provider, including tuition at a private school. Students must be ages 3 to 21, diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, registered in a public school special education system, and have a current IEP. Students may use the voucher whether or not they were enrolled previously in public schools, though students not previously enrolled in public schools must formally transfer into the public system for IEP purposes. (They do not need to leave their private schools.)
Roughly 2% of students are eligible statewide for the Autism Scholarship Program. The program has 279 participating schools and serves 4,696 students during the 2022-23 school year, and the average voucher value was $26,639. A child must be in the program for a full academic year to claim the maximum award amount. If transportation is listed on the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) as a related service, the parent may obtain transportation from a registered private provider and claim it for reimbursement through the Autism Scholarship program.
Ohio Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program
The Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship provides Ohio parents of children with special needs vouchers to pay for private school tuition, private therapies, and other services covered by their Individual Education Plans (IEPs). Children with special needs must be between ages 5 and 21 and have at least an initial Individualized Education Plan (IEP) from their public school district.
About 14% of students statewide are eligible for the scholarship with 8,183 students participating in the program during the 2022-23 school year, and the average voucher value was $10,801. Parents’ applications must certify that they have received the methods of instruction to be used with the child and qualifications of the teachers and instructors who will provide services from the alternative or private school.
Oklahoma Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities
Oklahoma’s Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities provide vouchers to qualifying students with special learning needs. Students must have or qualify for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or Individualized Service Plan (ISP) to participate in the program. For the 2022-23 school year, the program had 1,256 participating students and 73 participating schools with an average voucher value of about $8,000 per recipient. Roughly 17% of Oklahoma’s student population is eligible for the program.
Puerto Rico Free School Selection Program
Students living in Puerto Rico who have been enrolled in public or charter schools for at least two consecutive years qualify for school vouchers that may be used at private and public schools. Gifted students may also use vouchers to supplement their learning at institutions of higher education.
Utah Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship Program
The Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship Program provides eligible families of students with special needs with vouchers to attend private schools. About 12% of students are eligible statewide. For the 2023-24 school year, 93 schools and 900 students participated in the program with an average scholarship value of $1,891.
Public school students between ages three and 21 identified as disabled under federal disability rights law are eligible to receive vouchers, as well as students with special needs in private schools that served students with disabilities prior to participating in the program. Students are not eligible to participate in more than one of the Utah choice programs or to stack scholarship awards.
Wisconsin Special Needs Scholarship Program
Wisconsin’s Special Needs Scholarship Program provides vouchers designated specifically for students with disabilities to attend private school. For 2023–24, the maximum voucher amount is $14,671. Voucher amounts are calculated as a portion of the state’s revenue limit, which includes a combination of state aid and local property taxes.
For fall 2023, the program has 2,703 students and 179 participating schools. Roughly 12% of students statewide are eligible for the scholarships, and the average voucher value was $12,883 for the 2022-23 school year. Participating students must have an active Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Students may continue participating in the program as long as they have an IEP and attend an eligible school until they turn 21 or graduate high school, whichever comes first.
Additional Choice Programs That Serve Students with Disabilities
This section includes additional choice programs nationwide that are inclusive of students with disabilities, but are not specifically targeted to them. For example, several of these programs are targeted to families that are below certain income levels and/or have a student with disabilities. Other programs such as the Utah Fits All Scholarship have eligibility open for most or all K-12 students statewide regardless of whether they have a disability or an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Alabama Education Scholarship Program
Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts
Arizona Original Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program
Arizona “Switcher” Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program
Arkansas Children‘s Educational Freedom Account Program
Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program
New Hampshire Education Tax Credit Program
South Carolina Education Scholarship Trust Fund Program
Utah Fits All Scholarship Program
