The annual award amount is $6,765 in 2019–20, subject annually to an increase or decrease by the same proportion as the Mississippi Adequate Education Program base student cost, i.e., the funding amount provided by the state to public schools. The program has an enrollment cap that increases by 500 students each year, but because the program is funded by appropriation and the state has underfunded it, the program has not been funded up to the enrollment cap since its second year. Mississippi had been appropriating $3 million a year to the program, but increased that amount to $5 million for 2019–20.

Students must have had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) within the past five years. While participating in this program, students are not eligible for either a Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship or a Nate Rogers Scholarship. Participating students are automatically approved to participate the following year.

Mississippi launched the Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Program with limited eligibility for children with special needs. While this is a good step for some Mississippi students, it should not be the end goal for parental choice in education. Mississippi should continue to expand eligibility. The program is currently administered by the state department of education. The state department of revenue or a nonprofit designated to administer the funds would be a less politicized environment for overseeing the ESA program. The appropriations process and the enrollment cap also severely limits the program. Lawmakers should continue to increase funding and lift the cap to allow all parents of eligible students access to an ESA. Mississippi also does not allow rollover funds to be saved into a college savings account if they remain unused. A rollover component, like in Arizona’s ESA, should allow the use of college savings accounts to promote the family’s consideration of opportunity costs and a long-term investment in postsecondary learning.

• Income Limit: None
• Prior Year Public School Requirement: Conditional
• Geographic Limit: Statewide
• Enrollment Cap: 2,500
• Budget Cap: $5 million
• Account amount: $6,765 (2019–20)
• Testing Mandates: None
• *Limited to students with special needs

School Requirements:

• Be accredited by, or hold a provisional letter of accreditation from, a state or regional accrediting agency (does not include a home instruction program),
• Comply with health and safety laws that apply to nonpublic schools
• Hold a valid occupancy permit if required by municipality
• Offer students the option of taking a nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement test
• Comply with nondiscrimination policies in 42 USC § 1981
• Provide parents of prospective students details of the school’s programs, qualifications, experience and capacity to serve students with disabilities
• Have no record of fraud or abuse
• Exclude from employment anyone not permitted by state law to work in a nonpublic school or who might pose a threat to the safety of students
• Conduct criminal background checks on employees

Miss. Code Ann. §§ 37-181-1 through 21

No legal challenges have been filed against the program.