More than 600 Hamilton County students are using state funded private school vouchers this year, while thousands of other Tennessee families remain on a waitlist as lawmakers debate whether to double the size of the program.
The Tennessee Education Freedom Act was signed into law on Feb. 12, 2025. It uses state taxpayer dollars to fund up to $20,000 for K-12 students to attend private schools across the state. The money can be used to fund tuition and other educational expenses as needed. It does not include athletic and technology expenses for the student.
To qualify for the program, students must be residents of Tennessee entering grades K-12 and enroll in an approved private or charter school. Ten thousand vouchers are reserved for families who may be income qualified, which is generally those earning at, or below 300 percent of the federal free or reduced lunch guidelines. The qualifications are based on 130% of the federal poverty rate. For a family of four, it equates to an income of $40,560.
The remainder of the scholarships are open to families regardless of income on a first come first serve basis, according to the TN Department of Education website.
In Hamilton County there are 602 students using the school vouchers for the current 2025-26 school year.
“If they expand the number of scholarships, there may be a chance for my family to get on but they would have to expand it by at least 10,000 to 15,000,” said Jessica Horton, the mother of an eighth grader at McCallie School, who attempted to obtain the scholarship for her child.
Horton believes that some families who are in a middle ground based on income cannot benefit from the program compared with others.
“Some people like me and my family are penalized in a way. We fit into a gray area where we make too much to qualify for any aid but not enough to really enjoy life,” Horton said.
She mentioned the waitlist and that it is unlikely her family will be able to make it off it. The total number of waitlisted families is not published.
While expanding the program is the goal, the question that many Tennesseans have is how many people can be reached if the program expands in the future?“Based on the numbers I saw, I don’t know that they can expand enough to cut the numbers significantly,” said another Hamilton County parent who requested to remain anonymous because she feared backlash for speaking publicly. Her child is enrolled in a private high school in Chattanooga.
After approximately 23,000 students did not receive aid for the 2025 – 26 school year the Tennessee General Assembly is looking into expanding the program. In Governor Bill Lee’s State of the State Address in early February, he proposed a $155 million expansion to the Education Freedom Scholarship in 2026. This would raise the available slots from 20,000 to 40,000 for the 2026 – 27 school year.
According to the Governor’s office, more than 50,000 families applied to renew or receive first-time scholarships so far this year for the 2026 – 27 academic year.
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