The Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) program offers up to $10,474 per student annually for private school tuition and related expenses, with up to $30,000 for students with disabilities who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), and $2,000 for homeschooling families.
Priority is given to low-income families and students with special needs, with a lottery system used if demand exceeds the $1 billion funding cap.
The average annual tuition for Catholic private schools in Texas is approximately $9,081, according to 2024 data. The average private school tuition in Texas for the 2026 school year is $14,000 per year, according to Private School Review. This breaks down to: $13,246 for private elementary schools, $14,494 for private high schools.
This is a GREAT program. Especially with Texas State funding... my bet is that Private Education will step up to accept that $10,474 per student... and parents can remove their children from public education and use the $$$ to provide better learning opportunities.
The program has a $1 Billion annual funding cap. Can you imagine $1 Billion being pulled OUT of public education... and applied to private schools? The entire Texas State Public Education budget is only $8 Billion per year. This is 1/8th of the money spent on public education. That's a BIG deal.
Can you imagine if a school has 1,000 kids enrolled.... and 120 of them dis-enroll and move to private schools instead... taking that education money with them?
Now imagine a school district with 50,000 students, and roughly 6,500 of those students leave and go to private schools instead. That's $68 Million per year in funding that leaves the school district for private education instead. Big loss.
The Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) program offers up to $10,474 per student annually for private school tuition and related expenses, with up to $30,000 for students with disabilities who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), and $2,000 for homeschooling families.
Priority is given to low-income families and students with special needs, with a lottery system used if demand exceeds the $1 billion funding cap.
The average annual tuition for Catholic private schools in Texas is approximately $9,081, according to 2024 data. The average private school tuition in Texas for the 2026 school year is $14,000 per year, according to Private School Review. This breaks down to: $13,246 for private elementary schools, $14,494 for private high schools.
This is a GREAT program. Especially with Texas State funding... my bet is that Private Education will step up to accept that $10,474 per student... and parents can remove their children from public education and use the $$$ to provide better learning opportunities.
The program has a $1 Billion annual funding cap. Can you imagine $1 Billion being pulled OUT of public education... and applied to private schools? The entire Texas State Public Education budget is only $8 Billion per year. This is 1/8th of the money spent on public education. That's a BIG deal.
Can you imagine if a school has 1,000 kids enrolled.... and 120 of them dis-enroll and move to private schools instead... taking that education money with them?
Now imagine a school district with 50,000 students, and roughly 6,500 of those students leave and go to private schools instead. That's $68 Million per year in funding that leaves the school district for private education instead. Big loss.