America’s School Choice Programs Ranked by Participation, 2018 Edition
Which of America’s school choice programs has the most students participating? What about the least? The 2018 edition of The ABCs of School Choice gives the most up-to-date information we have on program participation. In this post we rank the programs by how many participants they have, based on the most recent data available for each program at the time of this writing. Last year’s rankings are in parentheses following each program name.
While participation is an important factor in analyzing school choice systems, program design is an equally-key point. Most of the Top 5 programs ranked below offer families tax relief for private school tuition, but such programs often fail to provide immediate financial support to families of all income levels. Education savings accounts (ESAs), vouchers and tax-credit scholarships have the ability to provide families with the needed flexibility and funding to meet their children’s educational needs. Eligibility, regulations and funding play important roles in how people and schools interact with school choice programs.
Stay tuned to our blog this week for more rankings and our annual superlatives post, where we assess programs holistically and provide our readers states to watch in 2018.
1. Illinois’s Tax Credits for Educational Expenses (1)
Individual Tax Credit | 305,822 tax returns
2. Minnesota’s Education Deduction (2)
Individual Tax Deduction | 212,731 tax returns
3. Iowa’s Tuition and Textbook Tax Credit (3)
Individual Tax Credit | 133,122 tax returns
4. Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program (4)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |106,958 students
5. Louisiana’s Elementary & Secondary School Tuition Deduction (5)
Individual Tax Deduction | 106,549 tax returns
6. Indiana’s Private School/Homeschool Deduction (6)
Individual Tax Deduction | 54,755 tax returns
7. Minnesota’s K–12 Education Credit (7)
Individual Tax Credit | 49,952 tax returns
8. Wisconsin’s K–12 Private School Tuition Deduction (8)
Individual Tax Deduction | 38,170 tax returns
9. Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program (10)
Voucher |34,299 students
10. Arizona’s Original Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (12)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |31,578 scholarships
11. Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (9)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |30,469 scholarships
12. Florida’s John M. McKay Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program (11)
Voucher | 29,582 students
13. Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (13)
Voucher |28,702 students
14. Ohio’s Educational Choice Scholarship Program (14)
Voucher | 21,846 students
15. Arizona’s “Switcher” Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (16)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |20,976 scholarships
16. Arizona’s Low-Income Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (15)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 20,076 scholarships
17. Georgia’s Qualified Educational Expense Tax Credit (18)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |13,600 scholarships
18. Pennsylvania’s Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program (17)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 11,417 scholarships
19. Iowa’s School Tuition Organization Tax Credit (19)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |10,771 scholarships
20. Florida’s Gardiner Scholarships (23)
ESA |10,531 students
21. Indiana’s School Scholarship Tax Credit (20)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |8,501 scholarships
22. Ohio’s Cleveland Scholarship Program (21)
Voucher |8,004 students
23. Ohio’s Income-Based Scholarship Program (22)
Voucher | 7,581 students
24. Louisiana Scholarship Program (24)
Voucher |6,995 students
25. North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarships (26)
Voucher |6,452 students
26. Maine’s Town Tuitioning Program (25)
Voucher |5,727 students
27. Ohio’s Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program (27)
Voucher |4,930 students
28. Wisconsin’s Parental Choice Program (Statewide) (33)
Voucher |4,540 students
29. Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (32)
ESA |4,525 students
30.Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program (28)
Voucher |4,194 students
31. Ohio’s Autism Scholarship (31)
Voucher |3,522 students
32. Vermont’s Town Tuitioning Program (30)
Voucher |3,350 students
33. Virginia’s Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits Program (36)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |3,433 students
34. Alabama’s Education Scholarship Program (29)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |3,339 students
35. Wisconsin’s Parental Private School Choice Program (Racine) (34)
Voucher |3,007 students
36. Maryland’s Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) Program (35)
Voucher | 2,659 students
37. Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarships (38)
Tax-Credit Scholarship|2,209 students
38. South Carolina’s Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children (37)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |1,951 students
39. Nevada’s Educational Choice Scholarship Program (45)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 1,692 scholarships
40. Louisiana’s Tuition Donation Credit Program (43)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |1,688 students
41. North Carolina’s Special Education Scholarship Grants for Children with Disabilities (41)
Voucher |1,323 students
42. Washington D.C.’s Opportunity Scholarships Program (39)
Voucher |1,154 students
43. Arizona’s Lexie’s Law for Disabled and Displaced Students Tax Credit Scholarship Program (42)
Tax-Credit Scholarships |936 scholarships
44. Utah’s Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship (40)
Voucher |882 students
45. Oklahoma’s Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities (45)
Voucher |669 students
46. Rhode Island’s Tax Credits for Contributions to Scholarship Organizations (46)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |415 students
47. Louisiana’s School Choice Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities (47)
Voucher |336 students
48. New Hampshire’s Education Tax Credit Program (52)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |332 students
49. South Dakota’s Partners in Education Tax Credit Program (48)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |295 students
50. Wisconsin’s Special Needs Scholarship Program (49)
Voucher | 246 students
51. Mississippi’s Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Program (50)
ESA |202 students
52. Kansas’s Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program (51)
Tax-Credit Scholarship |292 students
53. Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for Students with Dyslexia Program (53)
Voucher |165 students
54. Arkansas’s Succeed Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities (56)
Voucher | 151 students
55.Alabama’s Accountability Act of 2013 Parent/Taxpayer Refundable Tax Credits (54)
Individual Tax Credit | 122 tax returns
56.Tennessee’s Individualized Education Account Program (NR)
ESA | 47 students
57. Montana’s Tax Credits for Contributions to Student Scholarship Organizations (55)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 25 students
58. Mississippi’s Nate Rogers Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program (57)
Voucher |0 students
NR. South Carolina’s Refundable Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children (NR)
Individual Tax Credit | Data not reported
NR. Nevada’s Education Savings Account (NR)
ESA | Not yet operating
NR. New Hampshire’s Town Tuitioning Program (NR)
ESA | First-year data not yet reported
NR. Illinois’s Invest in Kids Program (NEW)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | Launches 2018
NR. North Carolina’s Personal Education Savings Account (NEW)
ESA | Launches 2018
