Arizona has had a universal Education Savings Account program since 2022. As Texas launches its own Texas Education Freedom Accounts, families, educators and state officials offer competing views on school choice, oversight and public schools.

A Houston private school operator says Texas’ new school choice program has dramatically increased enrollment at his school, helping fuel an expansion into a new brick-and-mortar campus.

Texas’ new school choice program has awarded funds to about 118,440 students, but as families begin using the funds, families raise questions about what the money can actually pay for and how the state-funded accounts interact with financial assistance offered by private schools.

Time is running out for Texas families to apply for the state’s Education Freedom Accounts program. With more than 257,000 students already applying and only about 100,000 spots available, the program will distribute $1 billion in funding based on priority tiers.

More than 100,000 Texas families have applied for the state’s new Education Freedom Account program in less than two weeks. Here’s what to know before the March 17 deadline.