Maryland
Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) Program
- Voucher
- Enacted 2016
- Launched 2016
Maryland’s Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) Program, the state’s first school choice program, provides vouchers to low-income students to attend private schools.
We do not administer the program.
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2,942
Participating Students (2023–2024)
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24%
of Families with Children Income-eligible Statewide
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154
Participating Schools (2023–2024)
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$2,937
Average Voucher Value (2023–2024)
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16%
Value as a Percentage of Public School Per-Student Spending
Maryland’s BOOST Program Participation
Student Funding
Use of Funds
Qualifying expenses include tuition and fees at qualifying private schools.
Funding Amount and Source
The amount of money budgeted for scholarships in the 2024–2025 academic year is only $9 million, which is equivalent to only 0.76% of Maryland’s total K–12 expenditures, meaning roughly 3,000 students will be able to participate, or less than 1% of Maryland’s K–12 student population. The state also carries over any unused funds from the previous year. The Maryland legislature established the program as a budget item, and it is funded by appropriation. Of the appropriation, $700,000 was previously set aside for providing higher vouchers to students with special needs. The 2024 budget bill does not include that set aside, but the Maryland Department of Education appears to assume that the set aside still applies and that the omission was accidental.
Each student’s voucher can be funded at the statewide average of the per-pupil expenditures by all local education agencies for the current school year, up to but not exceeding the amount of tuition at the private school. The program’s advisory board considers a student’s special needs when determining scholarship amounts and usually may fund these students with higher vouchers than the per-pupil average. This 2024 budget bill does not include language permitting higher scholarships for students with special needs, but the Maryland Department of Education appears to assume that the requirement still applies and that the omission was accidental. The scholarship amount is determined by a ranking system. The program requires the Maryland Department of Education to “compile and certify” a list of applicants and rank them by eligibility before sending to the BOOST advisory board. Though this was likely intended to provide the most aid to the most disadvantaged students, this policy creates unnecessary invasions of privacy and forces a ranking system for students already eligible for the program.
(Last updated July 18, 2024)
Student Eligibility
Students are eligible if their family income does not exceed 100% of the federal Free and Reduced-Price Lunch program (FRL) ($57,720 for a family of four in 2024–2025). Renewing students who remain income-eligible are entitled to vouchers as long as funding is available with priority to siblings as well.
(Last updated July 18, 2024)
EdChoice Expert Feedback
Maryland’s Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) Program helps thousands of students access schools that are the right fit for them, but policymakers could do much more to expand educational opportunity. Eligibility for the scholarships is limited to 185 percent of the federal poverty line. Around one in four Maryland students are eligible for a scholarship and less than one percent of students statewide actually use a scholarship. The average scholarship size is about $3,100, which is a little less than one-fifth of the average expenditure per student at Maryland’s district schools. The amount of money budgeted for scholarships in the 2023–24 academic year is only $9 million, which is equivalent to only 0.76 percent of Maryland’s total K–12 expenditures. To expand access to educational choice, Maryland policymakers should dramatically increase funding for the scholarship and expand eligibility to all students (prioritizing scholarships based on need). Instead of funding the scholarships via an annual line-item appropriation, the scholarships should be formula-funded. The program could also be converted into an education savings account to ensure that all students have access to the education that’s the right fit for them, whether private school or a customized course of education. Additionally, Maryland’s scholarship program has some unnecessary and counterproductive regulations. The program requires the Maryland Department of Education to “compile and certify” a list of applicants and rank them by eligibility before sending to the BOOST advisory board. Though this was likely intended to provide the most aid to the most disadvantaged students, this policy creates unnecessary invasions of privacy and forces a ranking system for students already eligible for the program. Schools participating in this program also must adhere to Maryland’s Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended and Title 20 Subtitle 6 of the State Governor Article, which requires private schools eligible for vouchers to not discriminate in student admissions, retention, expulsion or otherwise based on race, color, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Although the program includes a protection for religious liberty (“Nothing herein shall require any school or institution to adopt any rule, regulation, or policy that conflicts with its religious or moral teachings”), the state government expelled one private religious school from participating in the program due to its stated beliefs about marriage and sexuality, even though the school fully complied with the state’s nondiscrimination policy concerning admissions. (Last updated December 18, 2023)Rules and Regulations
Program Guidelines
- Income Limit: 100% x FRL
- Prior Year Public School Requirement: None
- Enrollment Cap: None
- Voucher Cap: 100% of Statewide Average Local Expenditure
- Testing Mandates: State or National
- Special Needs Pathway: None
Participant and Family Guidelines
- Click Here for the Program Administrator’s Parent Handbook
- Education Requirements: N/A
- Parent Supplemented Funds/Scholarships: Allowed
- Miscellaneous: N/A
Education Provider Guidelines
- Accreditation/Approval: State
- Employment Standards: Report number of certified/non-certified teachers for certain subject areas
- Nondiscrimination: Comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended and Title 20 Subtitle 6 of the State Government Article and agree not to discriminate in student admissions, retention, or expulsion on the basis of race, color, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
- Calendar/Curriculum/Attendance: Administer state or nationally norm-referenced assessments to all students in English/language arts and mathematics in grades 3-8 and high school, and at least three times in science, report proficiency criteria
- Financial: N/A
- Miscellaneous
- Have participated in state’s Non-Public Schools Program for Textbooks and Computer Hardware and Software
- Have at least one grade above kindergarten
- If a non-public school fails to comply with these requirements, it shall reimburse all scholarship funds to the state
(Last updated September 12, 2024)
Legal History
On December 10, 2021, the U.S. District Court of Maryland in Bethel Ministries, Inc. v. Salmon held that the state board administering the BOOST voucher program violated the First Amendment free speech rights of Bethel Christian Academy when it removed and excluded the school from the voucher program. The Court opined that the state violated the constitution when it “conditioned government funding on a viewpoint-based restriction of speech” and violated the Unconstitutional Conditions doctrine.
Schools participating in the BOOST program are prohibited from discriminating against students in the admissions process based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Bethel did not violate this nondiscrimination law. The case began when the school was nonetheless disqualified due to statements in its parent/student handbook that marriage is “a covenant between one man and one woman,” and that gender is bestowed by God “at birth as male or female to reflect His image.” The Court declined to rule whether the BOOST program is constitutional. This case was not appealed by the state. Bethel Ministries, Inc. v. Salmon, Civil Case No.: SAG-19-01853 (D. Md. 2021).
(Last Updated December 6, 2023)