Tennessee Education Freedom Act
The Tennessee General Assembly passed the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, amending Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 49 and Title 49. This legislation allows qualifying families to receive a state-sponsored voucher to help cover tuition expenses at private schools. The initiative demonstrates a dedication to expanding access for families to select the educational setting that aligns best with their children’s needs.
What You Need to Know
- Eligibility: Only Tennessee residents are eligible to participate in the Education Freedom Scholarship voucher program. Half of the 20,000 scholarship vouchers have no income requirement. Families must meet certain income criteria for their student to qualify for the remaining 10,000 vouchers. Any student in the state can participate.
- Application Process: The Tennessee Department of Education released the Education Freedom Scholarship (EFS) Program student application checklist and is encouraging interested families to begin gathering required documentation to submit when the application launches on May 15th.
- Award Amount: It would give 20,000 students access to $7,295 to use at the school of their choice and for other educational needs.
- Testing: Participating schools will be able to administer the nationally norm-referenced test that they already use.
- Expansion: The program has built-in ways that it will continue to grow if demand exists.
Next Steps
We will continue to keep families informed via email and text as developments regarding the new program emerge. Once complete details on eligibility and the application process are released, we will share more details. Click here to join our email list for regular updates.
Need help applying for Tennessee’s Education Savings Account?
Contact a Powered by Education Parent Coach for support.