America’s School Choice Programs Ranked by Participation, 2019 Edition

Which of America’s school choice programs has the most students participating? What about the least?

In this post, we rank America’s school choice programs by how many participants they have, based on the most recent data available for each program and as reported in the 2019 edition of The ABCs of School Choice. Note: Last year’s rankings are in parentheses following each program name.

Though participation is an important metric for school choice programs, program design can be far more important. For instance, most of the top five programs ranked below offer families tax relief for private school tuition, meaning the programs serve only families who can already foot the bill for private schooling out of pocket. Such programs often fail to provide immediate financial support to families of all income levels. Education savings accounts (ESAs), vouchers and tax-credit scholarships, however, have the ability to provide families with the needed flexibility and funding to meet their children’s educational needs.

Stay tuned to our blog this week for more rankings and our annual superlatives post, where we assess programs holistically and provide our readers with a list of states to watch in 2019.

1. Illinois’s Tax Credits for Educational Expenses (1)
Individual Tax Credit | 297,492 tax returns

2. Minnesota’s Education Deduction (2)
Individual Tax Deduction | 212,160 tax returns

3. Iowa’s Tuition and Textbook Tax Credit (3)
Individual Tax Credit | 117,788 tax returns

4. Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program (4)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 99,453 students

5. Louisiana’s Elementary & Secondary School Tuition Deduction (5)
Individual Tax Deduction | 77,097 tax returns

6. Indiana’s Private School/Homeschool Deduction (6)
Individual Tax Deduction | 56,025 tax returns

7. Minnesota’s K–12 Education Credit (7)
Individual Tax Credit | 46,948 tax returns

8. Wisconsin’s K–12 Private School Tuition Deduction (8)
Individual Tax Deduction | 37,07 tax returns

9. Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program (9)
Voucher | 35,458 students

10. Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (11)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 34,421 scholarships

11. Arizona’s Original Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (10)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 31,578 scholarships

12. Florida’s John M. McKay Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program (12)
Voucher | 29,462 students

13. Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (13)
Voucher | 28,067 students

14. Ohio’s Educational Choice Scholarship Program (14)
Voucher | 22,608 students

15. Arizona’s “Switcher” Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (15)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 20,976 scholarships

16. Arizona’s Low-Income Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program (16)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 20,076 scholarships

17. Pennsylvania’s Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program (18)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 14,556 scholarships

18. Georgia’s Qualified Educational Expense Tax Credit (17)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 13,247 scholarships

19. Florida’s Gardiner Scholarships (20)
ESA | 11,917 students

20. Iowa’s School Tuition Organization Tax Credit (19)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 10,752 scholarships

21. Indiana’s School Scholarship Tax Credit (21)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 9,743 scholarships

22. Ohio’s Income-Based Scholarship Program (23)
Voucher | 9,532 students

23. North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarships (25)
Voucher | 8,553 students

24. Ohio’s Cleveland Scholarship Program (22)
Voucher | 7,682 students

25. Louisiana Scholarship Program (24)
Voucher | 6,909 students

26. Wisconsin’s Parental Choice Program (Statewide) (28)
Voucher | 6,878 students

27. Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (29)
ESA | 6,028 students

28. Ohio’s Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program (27)
Voucher | 5,621 students

29. Maine’s Town Tuitioning Program (26)
Voucher | 5,091 students

30. Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program (30)
Voucher | 4,664 students

31. Virginia’s Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits Program (33)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 4,335 students

32. Alabama’s Education Scholarship Program (34)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 3,668 students

33. Ohio’s Autism Scholarship (31)
Voucher | 3,668 students

34. Maryland’s Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) Program (36)
Voucher | 3,410 students

35. Vermont’s Town Tuitioning Program (32)
Voucher | 3,350 students

36. Wisconsin’s Parental Private School Choice Program (Racine) (35)
Voucher | 3,242 students

37. Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarships (37)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 3,033 students

38. Nevada’s Educational Choice Scholarship Program (39)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 2,816 scholarships

39. South Carolina’s Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children (38)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 1,951 students

40. Louisiana’s Tuition Donation Credit Program (40)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 1,703 students

41. Washington D.C.’s Opportunity Scholarships Program (42)
Voucher | 1,645 students

42. North Carolina’s Special Education Scholarship Grants for Children with Disabilities (41)
Voucher | 1,245 students

43. Utah’s Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship (44)
Voucher | 978 students

44. Arizona’s Lexie’s Law for Disabled and Displaced Students Tax Credit Scholarship Program (43)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 936 scholarships

45. Oklahoma’s Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities (45)
Voucher | 827 students

46. Wisconsin’s Special Needs Scholarship Program (50)
Voucher | 692 students

47. South Carolina’s Refundable Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children (NR)
Individual Tax Credit | 508 tax returns

48. South Dakota’s Partners in Education Tax Credit Program (49)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 481 students

49. New Hampshire’s Education Tax Credit Program (48)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 413 students

50. Rhode Island’s Tax Credits for Contributions to Scholarship Organizations (46)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 397 students

51. Louisiana’s School Choice Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities (47)
Voucher | 391 students

52. Kansas’s Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program (52)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 369 students

53. Mississippi’s Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Program (51)
ESA | 356 students

54. North Carolina’s Personal Education Savings Account (NR)
ESA | 268 students

55. Arkansas’s Succeed Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities (54)
Voucher | 260 students

56. Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for Students with Dyslexia Program (53)
Voucher | 252 students

57. Alabama’s Accountability Act of 2013 Parent/Taxpayer Refundable Tax Credits (55)
Individual Tax Credit | 145 tax returns

58. Tennessee’s Individualized Education Account Program (56)
ESA | 137 students

59. Florida’s Hope Scholarship Program (NEW)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 66 students

60. Montana’s Tax Credits for Contributions to Student Scholarship Organizations (57)*
Tax-Credit Scholarship | 25 students

*A December decision from the Montana Supreme Court rendered this program inoperable; however, proponents of the program are attempting to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

61. New Hampshire’s Town Tuitioning Program (NR)
Voucher | 9 students

62. Mississippi’s Nate Rogers Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program (8)
Voucher | 1 student

63. Illinois’s Invest in Kids Program (NR)
Tax-Credit Scholarship | First-year data not yet reported

NR. Puerto Rico’s Free School Selection Program (NEW)
Voucher | Launches Fall 2019

NR. Nevada’s Education Savings Account (NR)
ESA | Not yet operating