After applications closed for the state’s first year of education savings accounts on Tuesday, the state revealed that more than 274,000 students applied for the program and that the San Antonio region had the fourth-largest chunk of applications.
Dubbed Texas Education Freedom Accounts, the school voucher-like program is overseen by the state comptroller’s office and would help participating families pay for private school tuition and services.
Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock said Texas “set the national record for year-one demand in a school choice program.”
“It’s not surprising that a state as big as Texas has more voucher applicants than other smaller states, especially with such a large marketing budget,” said Carrie Griffith, Executive Director of Our Schools Our Democracy, which launched the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency when TEFA applications opened.
Griffith also says very few families of public school students showed interest in the program — a relief for school districts trying to sustain enrollment as the education landscape grow more competitive.
In the San Antonio region, which includes surrounding counties and parts of South Texas, more than 30,000 students applied, including 21,483 students in 15 Bexar County-area school districts.
Of those 21,483 applicants, roughly 29% (6,151 students) had enrolled in San Antonio public schools during the 2024-25 school year, according to an analysis by the San Antonio Report based on state data.
Northside ISD, North East ISD and San Antonio ISD saw the largest number of students within their districts apply for a TEFA, but it’s unclear if those students are currently enrolled with the districts, a local charter or a private school.
This outpaced the state’s rate — about 25% — of students who applied for a TEFA and were previously enrolled in public school.
It’s unclear where applicants attended school this year, but the preliminary numbers suggest most of the funds will go toward families who enrolled in private school or home school before the TEFA program launched.
The preliminary report also shows Hispanic students are underrepresented, with 23% of applicants identifying as Hispanic and 43% identifying as (non-Hispanic) white. For comparison, 53% of public school students in Texas identify as Hispanic and 24% as white.
In San Antonio, the discrepancy may be even larger, as 64.4% of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latino according the U.S. Census Bureau.
State trends
Of the 274,000 applications statewide, 24,941 or just over 9% were deemed ineligible by the comptroller’s office, with most coming from preschool applications, which have stricter eligibility criteria.
Preschool applications also marked the highest number of applications per grade level, reflecting high demands for early education and child care, a need that’s exacerbated in Bexar County despite the city funding its own program called Pre-K 4 SA.
Across all applications, 43,090 indicated having a disability, which could qualify those families for up to $30,000 compared to the $10,500 that most families will get. Homeschoolers will receive $2,000 annually.
Local education experts worry that even if families with disabilities are awarded the larger amounts, they may have trouble finding spots for their students.
San Antonio’s private schools largely don’t have the resources to provide special education services, said Marisa Perez-Diaz, a member on the State Board of Education representing Bexar County, during a panel at the San Antonio Report’s annual Ed Forum on March 31.
“Either these private schools that are now receiving voucher dollars will use those dollars to then bring on resources to their campuses… or the institutions who choose to still not offer those services will then not be able to service students with special needs,” Perez-Diaz said.
Under state legislation, the TEFA program has to prioritize middle- to low-income families with disabilities, followed by families at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, then families between 200% and 500% of the FPG, and finally, families who make more than that.
Travis Pillow, a spokesperson for the TEFA program, said the state is likely to fund all students in the first priority group and most students in the second priority group.
Demand exceeded the program’s $1 billion, meaning most applications in the third and second priority groups will be waitlisted and placed in a lottery.
“It’s looking like we will have 0% of participating students above 500% of the poverty guidelines this year,” Pillow said.
Families have until July 15 to enroll in a private school, which are not required to accept students.
The state will start notifying families with awards later this month and partially release funds by July. Even though the application window closed for families, private schools and vendors can apply to accept TEFA money on a rolling basis.
In San Antonio, more than 250 private schools and dozens of locally-based vendors are signed up to take school vouchers as payment.
