Arkansas
Arkansas Children’s Educational Freedom Account Program
- Education Savings Account (ESA)
- Enacted 2023
- Launched 2024
The Arkansas Children’s Educational Freedom Account Program is an education savings account (ESA) in which students receive up to 90% of their assigned state education funding for private school tuition or other educational expenses, including special needs services and therapies, individual classes, testing fees, or transportation.
We do not administer this program.
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14,219
Participating Students
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$6,856
Maximum Account Value (2024–2025)
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100%
Student Eligibility to be Universal by 2025
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56%
Account Value as a Percentage of Public School Per-Student Spending
Percent of Students Eligible for the Arkansas Children’s Educational Freedom Account Program (by 2025)
Student Funding
Use of Funds
Arkansas’s Children’s Educational Freedom Account Program is a tuition first education savings account model. The program allows for broad use of funds on qualifying educational services, but participating students must first be enrolled in a private school. Home-based educated students may also participate in the program after filing a Notice of Intent to Homeschool document with the State Department of Education.
Qualifying expenses for education savings accounts include private school tuition and fees, supplies, testing fees, uniforms, and other education expenses as determined by participating schools, such as supplies, equipment, access to technology, and educational services. Eligible expenses also include curriculum, supplemental materials, tutoring, technology (excluding TVs and video games), fees for college credit and admission exams, fees for career training courses and industry credentials, ESA management fees, transportation, textbooks, and all other expenses approved by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education of the Arkansas Department of Education, beginning in the 2024–2025 school year. Families must prioritize private school tuition before covering other qualifying expenses.
Funding Amount and Source
The Arkansas ESAs are typically equal to 90% of the state’s foundation funding spent per student in the prior education year ($7,771 in 2024–2025). Previous participants in the Succeed Scholarship program receive 100% of the state’s foundation funding spent per student in the prior education year. Unused funds from the 2023–2024 school year were returned to the state on July 1, 2024. Starting with the 2025–2026 school year, any unused funds may roll over from year to year up to a maximum amount determined by the Arkansas Department of Education. Education Freedom Accounts are funded through Arkansas’ education funding formula, and any Arkansas student who wishes to participate may receive funding, once the program is fully phased in (2025-2026).
(Last Updated July 15, 2024)
Student Eligibility
Student eligibility is targeted in years one and two, transitioning to fully universal by year three (2025–2026). Students with disabilities, those who are homeless or in the foster care system, Succeed Scholars, children of active-military families, those living within the boundaries of F-rated schools or Level 5 intensive support school districts, and students entering kindergarten become eligible first, up to a cap of 1.5% of total public enrollment. For the 2024–2025 school year, eligibility expands to students within attendance zones of D- or F-rated schools, students with parents who are military veterans or reservists, first responders, or law enforcement officers, up to a cap of 3% of total public enrollment. In 2025–2026, its final eligibility expansion, all K–12 students who are eligible to attend public school in Arkansas will be eligible for the program. The enrollment cap will also be removed.
(Last Updated July 15, 2024)
EdChoice Expert Feedback
Although Arkansas’ Children’s Educational Freedom Account Program is one of the most expansive ESAs in the country and has the potential to help tens of thousands of students obtain the educational services that best fit their needs, participating students must be enrolled in a private school. Eligibility will be targeted and capped in years one and two, with all K–12 students being eligible to receive an ESA by 2025. Additionally, there are no enrollment or budget caps by 2025. ESAs will be funded at 90 percent of the state’s average per-pupil foundation funding (prior year), absent administrative expenses. The ESA will empower families with the freedom and broad flexibility to customize their child’s education, including transportation expenses and unbundled courses at a public school. The program’s rollover provision will allow parents to save for future educational expenses. In order to make this program even more expansive for Arkansas families, policymakers should improve access by including students who wish to use their ESA for individualized instruction in a non-school setting (e.g. home). Administration of the Children’s Educational Freedom Account Program is overseen by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, who may contract with a third-party manager if they choose to do so. This administrative structure should give the state department the flexibility to adapt to the needs of parents and ensure the program is run effectively. The program generally avoids counterproductive regulations. This analysis is limited to the Children’s Educational Freedom Account Program contained within The Learns Act; it does not address other elements of the Act. Separate from the ESA component, The Learns Act increases the minimum public school teacher base salary from $36,000 to $50,000 in 2023, provides for an additional $2,000 raise, and includes a merit pay provision for the highest performing teachers to receive a $10,000 annual bonus. (Last Updated December 18, 2023)Rules and Regulations
Program Guidelines
- Income Limit: None
- Prior Year Public School Requirement: None
- Geographic Limit: Statewide
- Enrollment Cap: 1.5 % of Total Public School Enrollment in Year One, 3 % of Total Public School Enrollment in Year Two, No Enrollment Cap Thereafter
- Account Cap: 90 % of Prior Year Foundation Funding ($7,349 per Student in 2022–2023)
- Testing Mandates: State or Federal (except IEP status)
- Budget Cap: None
- Special Needs Pathway: None
Parent and Family Guidelines
- Initial application
- Only use funds for qualified expenses under Arkansas Code § 6-18-2501 through 6-18-2511
- Not enrolled full time in public school
- Comply with all Arkansas Children’s Educational Freedom Account Program requirements according to the state board
- Provide instruction in English language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science (only applies for those not enrolled full time in private school)
(Last updated July 15, 2024)
Legal History
A legal challenge is currently pending. In June 2024, several public school parents sued, arguing that the EFA program diverts money from public schools. Faulkenberry et al. v. Arkansas Department of Education, No. 60CV-24-4630 (Pulaski Cty. Cir. Ct.).
A prior legal challenge was unsuccessful. On October 12, 2023, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled 5-1 in Arkansas Department of Education v. Jackson that the Arkansas legislature used proper procedures to enact the emergency clause of the LEARNS Act, which allowed the act to go into effect immediately.
Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES) had argued that the legislature violated the state constitution by forgoing a separate roll-call vote for the emergency clause. A circuit court halted the program’s implementation, but the Arkansas Supreme Court stayed that injunction a month later in Arkansas Department of Education v. Jackson, 2023 Ark. 105, 669 S.W.3d 1. Now deciding on the merits, the Arkansas Supreme Court held that the emergency clause was valid because the House and Senate journals— “the sole evidence of legislative proceedings” and “the official record of the General Assembly’s votes” —recorded a separate roll call vote. Arkansas Department of Education v. Jackson, 2023 Ark. 140.
(Last updated September 20, 2024)