Research · Dataset 2026-08-01

School Voucher Applications and Waitlists by State (2026)

By The School Choice Index Editorial Team · Last verified August 1, 2026 · Dataset version 2026-08-01

51 jurisdictions reviewed · 4 official numeric waitlists · 3 current-cycle selection queues

states with any official numeric waitlist tied to 2026–27

states with a current-cycle application or selection queue

152,702

eligible student applications on Texas’s initial waitlist (May 18)

16.6%

by which subtraction overstated Texas’s official initial queue

As of August 1, 2026, four states — South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah— had published an official numeric statewide waitlist tied to the 2026–27 school year. Three were generated by the current application and selection cycle: Texas reported 152,702 eligible student applications on its initial waitlist, Tennessee reported 17,735 waitlisted applications, and Utah’s authorized program administrator reported more than 8,800 waitlisted students. South Carolina separately documented more than 6,000 students on a carried-forward waiting list before its 2026–27 application cycle.

We reviewed all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Under the classification rules below, 24 jurisdictions had a state-coordinated 2026–27 application route. Four of those 24 — 16.7%— published any numeric statewide waitlist tied to 2026–27. Three of 24 — 12.5%— published a numeric queue generated by the current application or selection cycle.

The second original finding is just as important: subtracting awards from applications overstated Texas’s official initial waitlist by exactly 25,400 student applications, or 16.6% relative to the official queue.The difference is the state’s published ineligible count. That arithmetic is reproduced below.

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1. School voucher applications and waitlists by state: the 2026–27 data

Four states published an official numeric statewide waitlist tied to 2026–27. Three were current-cycle selection queues. South Carolina’s figure was a carried-forward list documented before its current application cycle. Twenty other state-coordinated routes published no numeric statewide list tied to the year. “No published count” is not the same as “no waiting families.”

Table 1. Official numeric statewide waitlist disclosures tied to 2026–27

Table 1. Official numeric statewide waitlist disclosures tied to 2026–27
Jurisdiction	Published waitlist	What the number counts	Snapshot date	Queue stage and later status
Texas	152,702	Eligible student applications on the initial waitlist	May 18, 2026	Current-cycle initial queue. The Comptroller reported that 5,499 initially waitlisted students received awards by June 23. The current remaining total was not published.
Tennessee	17,735	Applications remaining on the waitlist	May 7, 2026	Current-cycle post-selection snapshot. No later official statewide numeric total was located by August 1.
Utah	More than 8,800	Students on the waitlist	June 17, 2026	Current-cycle post-award snapshot. Odyssey expected another 1,000–2,000 awards in August. No later official numeric statewide queue was located by August 1.
South Carolina	More than 6,000	Additional students on a waiting list maintained by the Department	January 2026	Carried-forward pre-application list tied to entrance into 2026–27. The current application later closed at 15,000 students; no updated post-application queue was published.

Source: Texas Comptroller lottery update, Texas waitlist movement update, Tennessee Department of Education, Odyssey Utah Fits All award notice, South Carolina budget-request release. Figures retain each source’s original unit, stage, and date. Last verified August 1, 2026.

Do not add these together.Texas counts eligible student applications in an initial queue that later moved. Tennessee counts applications. Utah counts students. South Carolina’s figure predates its current application cycle and describes a carried-forward list. The units, dates, and stages do not match.

Table 2. Application-route and queue-disclosure classification, all 50 states plus D.C.

Table 2. Application-route and queue-disclosure classification, all 50 states plus D.C.
Category	Count	Jurisdictions
State-coordinated 2026–27 application route	24	AL, AZ, AR, DC, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, LA, MD, MS, MT, NH, NC, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, UT, WV, WI, WY
— of which publish any numeric statewide waitlist tied to 2026–27	4	SC, TN, TX, UT
— of which publish a numeric current-cycle application or selection queue	3	TN, TX, UT
Scholarship-organization administered, with no single statewide family queue	7	KS, MO, NV, PA, RI, SD, VA
District or town-tuitioning, with no statewide family queue	2	ME, VT
No qualifying 2026–27 route identified under the published scope	18	AK, CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, KY, MA, MI, MN, NE, NJ, NM, NY, ND, OR, WA
Total reviewed	51

Source: The School Choice Index classification of linked official state, district, and authorized-administrator sources. National program inventories were used only as a cross-check. Last verified August 1, 2026.

The 16.7% disclosure ratemeasures any official numeric statewide waitlist tied to 2026–27. The narrower 12.5% current-cycle ratecounts only queues generated by that year’s application or selection process. Neither measure ranks program quality, estimates unmet demand, or tells a family its odds.

2. Why applications minus awards is not the waitlist

An application total minus an award total is a residual, not a queue. Texas publishes enough detail to prove the difference exactly: the subtraction method produces 178,102, while the official initial waitlist was 152,702. The 25,400 gap is the published ineligible count.

Table 3. Texas Education Freedom Accounts: initial lottery reconciliation

Table 3. Texas Education Freedom Accounts: initial lottery reconciliation
Category	Student applications
Applications determined ineligible	25,400
Tier 1 students — awarded	28,233
Siblings of Tier 1 students — awarded	16,520
Tier 2 students — awarded	51,181
Tier 2 students — waitlisted	20,383
Tier 3 students — waitlisted	65,368
Tier 4 students — waitlisted	66,951
— Tier 4a: prior public school in 2024–25	13,245
— Tier 4b: not enrolled in public school in 2024–25	53,706
Total applications	274,036

Source: Texas Education Freedom Accounts lottery update, dated May 18, 2026. Last verified August 1, 2026.

The three sums reconcile exactly:

Initial awards: 28,233 + 16,520 + 51,181 = 95,934
Initial waitlist: 20,383 + 65,368 + 66,951 = 152,702
Total: 95,934 + 152,702 + 25,400 = 274,036

274,036 applications − 95,934 awards = 178,102 residual applications
178,102 residual − 152,702 official waitlist = 25,400

That difference is not an estimate. It is exactly the number of applications Texas classified as ineligible. The subtraction method therefore overstated the state’s official initial queue by 16.6% relative to the official queue.

The rule that follows is simple: do not turn an unlabeled residual into a waitlist. Depending on the program, a residual may contain ineligible, incomplete, withdrawn, duplicate, unresolved, or genuinely waitlisted applications. Without an official classification, its composition is unknown.

Tennessee publishes another residual that cannot be labeled

Tennessee published 56,440 applications, 35,000 reserved scholarships, and 17,735 waitlisted applications. Those figures leave 3,705 applications outside the two published outcome categories:

56,440 − 35,000 − 17,735 = 3,705

The Tennessee Department of Education does not label that remainder in the May 7 release. It may not be described as ineligible, incomplete, withdrawn, or anything else without another source.

Alabama does not publish an exact residual

Alabama reported 29,341 family applications representing 48,927 students. A later official release said more than 34,000 students were approved and more than $174 million in accounts was funded. Those rounded figures do not support an exact count of students who were not approved, and Alabama did not publish a numeric statewide waitlist in the sources reviewed.

That is as far as the official releases allow the arithmetic to go. Turning “more than 34,000” into an exact approval total, or subtracting it from 48,927 to manufacture an exact residual, would create precision the source does not provide.

3. What this school voucher waitlist data shows — and what it does not

This tracker measures public operational disclosure for the 2026–27 cycle. It is a dated record of application access, capacity signals, and published queues, not a live census of every family seeking private-school funding.

What it shows

Four of 24 state-coordinated routes published an official numeric statewide waitlist tied to 2026–27.
Three of 24 published a numeric queue generated by the current application or selection cycle.
Several other programs explicitly acknowledge a waitlist or capacity constraint without publishing a numeric queue.
A program can be open while offering a prorated award, as West Virginia does.
A program can be closed while awards continue to move, as Texas, Utah, Maryland, and North Carolina ESA+ show.
Administrative structure determines whether a statewide queue is even meaningful.
Application units differ. Alabama reported 48,927 students across 29,341 family applications (1.67 per family). Idaho reported 12,561 students across 7,055 applications (1.78). Neither ratio transfers to another state.

What it does not show

It does not show that a state without a published count has no waiting applicants.
It does not capture private-school admissions waitlists.
It does not capture every queue maintained by a scholarship organization, school, or district.
It does not produce a comparable national acceptance rate.
It does not tell us whether every submitted application was complete or eligible.
It does not measure private-school seat availability.
It does not predict an individual applicant’s odds or position.
It does not support a national waitlist total.

A missing number is a disclosure finding, not a zero.

4. How we built the state application and waitlist tracker

We reviewed all 50 states and D.C., preserved each source’s original unit and date, and recorded a numeric waitlist only when an official agency or authorized administrator explicitly published a current-season queue. Every jurisdiction appears in one and only one structural category.

What enters the state-coordinated group

A jurisdiction enters the 24-state denominator when a 2026–27 application route can be established through at least one of: a family-facing state application; a unified application run by an administrator formally authorized by the state; a state system in which a participating school submits the application after accepting the student; or a statewide program page that establishes a current operational window and process.

What enters the scholarship-organization group

A state enters the seven-state group when independent scholarship organizations or foundations control family applications and there is no single statewide family queue. Those states are reported separately because combining their organization-level pipelines would manufacture a statewide unit that does not exist.

What enters the district or town-tuitioning group

Maine and Vermont administer qualifying tuition through local districts or municipalities. There is no statewide family application queue to count.

What we excluded

Public-school open enrollment and charter-school enrollment; ordinary after-the-fact personal tax deductions or credits with no advance application mechanism; locally funded private aid outside a state-created program; Puerto Rico and other territories; federal programs.

Source hierarchy

The state education agency, treasury, tax authority, or other agency administering the program.
The official state program portal.
A current statute, enacted appropriation, rule, or program guide.
An organization formally authorized to administer the program.

National policy inventories were used to cross-check the universe. They were not substituted for current operational sources when a state or authorized administrator published the relevant status.

What counts as a numeric waitlist

A figure qualifies only when an official or authorized source explicitly identifies applicants or students as waitlisted or queued, ties the list to 2026–27, and supplies a number. We distinguish a current-cycle selection queuecreated by 2026–27 applications from a carried-forward pre-application listmaintained for entrance into that school year. We do not derive queues from application-minus-award arithmetic, turn a funding cap into a count, or convert “not published” into zero.

Application-status labels

Application-status label definitions
Label	Meaning
OPEN	A current application can be submitted for the applicable program or term.
OPEN—ROLLING	Applications are accepted throughout the year.
OPEN—PRORATED	Applications are accepted, but the award changes according to the submission period.
OPEN—SCHOOL-SUBMITTED	A participating school submits the scholarship request after accepting the student.
MIXED PROGRAM STATUS	One jurisdiction has multiple programs with different current statuses.
CLOSED—WINDOW ENDED	The published application period ended.
CLOSED—CAP REACHED	The application closed after a statutory or operational limit was reached.
CLOSED—SELECTION COMPLETE	Initial awards or selection results were issued.
CLOSED—WAITLIST ACTIVE	New applications are closed, but the program continues moving applicants through a queue.
CLOSED—DECISIONS PENDING	Applications are closed and final processing or notices remain underway.
PROGRAM-SPECIFIC WINDOWS	Current timing varies across programs or participating schools.
STATUS NOT CLEARLY POSTED	The current public source does not establish a reliable open or closed answer.
CURRENT DEADLINE NOT CLEARLY POSTED	Current application material exists, but the applicable deadline is not clearly stated.
SCHOLARSHIP-ORGANIZATION ADMINISTERED	Families apply through independent scholarship organizations.
DISTRICT-ADMINISTERED	Eligibility or tuition is handled locally.
NO QUALIFYING ROUTE UNDER SCOPE	No route matching the published inclusion rules was identified.

Waitlist-disclosure labels

Waitlist-disclosure label definitions
Label	Meaning
NUMERIC CURRENT-SEASON SNAPSHOT	An official or authorized source publishes a dated queue generated by the 2026–27 application or selection cycle.
NUMERIC CARRIED-FORWARD SNAPSHOT	An official source publishes a numeric list tied to entrance into 2026–27 before the current application cycle.
ACKNOWLEDGED—NO COUNT	The source acknowledges a waitlist or continued queue movement but gives no numeric statewide total.
NO SINGLE FAMILY-FACING QUEUE	The application runs through schools rather than one family queue.
NO SINGLE STATEWIDE QUEUE	Multiple programs or organizations prevent one statewide queue from being a coherent unit.
NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	No official numeric current-season statewide queue was located.
NOT YET DETERMINED	Application or selection remains underway.
NOT APPLICABLE UNDER SCOPE	No qualifying route was identified under the dataset rules.

5. What is the school voucher application and waitlist status in every state?

The table below records all 24 state-coordinated routes. It distinguishes open, closed, prorated, school-submitted, capped, and unclear processes, then states exactly what each source does — or does not — disclose about a queue.

Table 4. State-coordinated 2026–27 application routes

Table 4. State-coordinated 2026–27 application routes
Jurisdiction	Program	Application status on Aug 1	Latest published demand detail	Waitlist disclosure	Source(s)
Alabama	CHOOSE Act	CLOSED—WINDOW ENDEDclosed March 31	29,341 family applications representing 48,927 students; more than 34,000 students approved; more than $174 million in ESAs	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source 1 Source 2
Arizona	Empowerment Scholarship Account	OPEN—ROLLING	Current-year application count not published on the application pages reviewed	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source
Arkansas	Education Freedom Account	CLOSED—WINDOW ENDEDclosed June 1	Current-year application count not published on the official page reviewed	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source
District of Columbia	D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program	STATUS NOT CLEARLY POSTED	Current-year application count not published on the application page reviewed	ACKNOWLEDGED—NO COUNT	Source
Florida	Florida Tax Credit; Family Empowerment Scholarship; PEP	MIXED PROGRAM STATUSprograms differ	Program-specific; no unified current application count on the pages reviewed	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source 1 Source 2
Georgia	Georgia Promise Scholarship	OPEN—SPRING-TERM WINDOWAugust 1–31	Current-window application count not published	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source
Idaho	Parental Choice Tax Credit	CLOSED—DECISIONS PENDINGclosed July 17	7,055 applications covering 12,561 students as of July 27, 2026	ACKNOWLEDGED—NO COUNT	Source 1 Source 2
Indiana	Indiana Education Scholarship Account; Choice Scholarship	OPENESA through September 1	Current-year statewide application count not published on the pages reviewed	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source
Iowa	Students First Education Savings Account	CLOSED—WINDOW ENDEDclosed June 30	Current-year application count not published on the official page reviewed	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source
Louisiana	LA GATOR Scholarship Program	CLOSED—WINDOW ENDEDclosed March 16	Current-year application count not published on the official page reviewed	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source
Maryland	BOOST Scholarship Program	CLOSED—WINDOW ENDEDclosed May 8	Around 2,500 awards estimated in the program guide; current application count not published	ACKNOWLEDGED—NO COUNT	Source 1 Source 2
Mississippi	Education Scholarship Account for students with disabilities	CURRENT DEADLINE NOT CLEARLY POSTED	Current-year application count not published on the official page reviewed	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source
Montana	Montana Education Savings Account	CLOSED—WINDOW ENDEDnext window Nov 1–Dec 1	Current-year application count not published on the official page reviewed	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source
New Hampshire	Education Freedom Account	OPEN—ROLLING/PRORATED	Current-year application count not published on the application page reviewed	ACKNOWLEDGED—NO COUNT	Source
North Carolina	Opportunity Scholarship; Education Student Accounts (ESA+)	MIXED PROGRAM STATUSOpportunity open; ESA+ closed	Program-specific; no unified current application count on the pages reviewed	ACKNOWLEDGED—NO COUNT	Source 1 Source 2
Ohio	EdChoice Expansion and related scholarships	OPEN—SCHOOL-SUBMITTEDschool submits after acceptance	No single statewide family application count published on the page reviewed	NO SINGLE FAMILY-FACING QUEUE	Source
Oklahoma	Parental Choice Tax Credit	CLOSED—WINDOW ENDED	The current program page does not state a final 2026–27 application total	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source
South Carolina	Education Scholarship Trust Fund	CLOSED—CAP REACHED15,000-student cap	The official page says the statutory 15,000-student limit was reached; no current application total published	more than 6,000 students on a carried-forward waiting list (Jan 2026)	Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Source 4
Tennessee	Education Freedom Scholarship	CLOSED—SELECTION COMPLETE	56,440 applications; 35,000 scholarships reserved	17,735 applications (2026-05-07)	Source
Texas	Texas Education Freedom Accounts	CLOSED—WAITLIST ACTIVE	274,036 total applications; 95,934 initial awards; 25,400 ineligible applications	152,702 eligible student applications on the initial waitlist (2026-05-18)	Source 1 Source 2
Utah	Utah Fits All Scholarship	CLOSED—WAITLIST ACTIVE	More than 18,700 awards issued as of June 17, 2026	more than 8,800 students (2026-06-17)	Source 1 Source 2
West Virginia	Hope Scholarship	OPEN—PRORATED75% award in current period	Current-year application count not published on the FAQ reviewed	NOT FOUND IN SOURCES REVIEWED	Source
Wisconsin	Milwaukee, Racine, Wisconsin statewide, and special-needs choice programs	PROGRAM-SPECIFIC WINDOWS	Program-specific; no single statewide family count	NO SINGLE STATEWIDE QUEUE	Source
Wyoming	Steamboat Legacy Scholarship	OPENthrough August 6	Current application count not published	NOT YET DETERMINED	Source

Source: Official agencies and authorized program administrators linked in each row. Counts retain the source’s original unit. Last verified August 1, 2026.

Table 5. Scholarship-organization-administered states

These seven states have qualifying state-created scholarship structures, but families apply through independent organizations. A single statewide “applications open” label or waitlist number would collapse separate pipelines into a number the system does not actually maintain.

Table 5. Scholarship-organization-administered states
State	Program	What the application structure means	Source
Kansas	Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship	Families apply through scholarship-granting organizations.	Source
Missouri	MOScholars	Families apply through educational assistance organizations, which control their own application processes.	Source
Nevada	Nevada Educational Choice Scholarship Program	The Nevada Department of Education directs families to approved scholarship organizations rather than accepting family applications itself.	Source
Pennsylvania	Educational Improvement and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credits	Families apply through approved scholarship organizations.	Source
Rhode Island	Tax Credits for Contributions to Scholarship Organizations	The state certifies scholarship organizations; family awards are administered by those organizations.	Source
South Dakota	Partners in Education Tax Credit Program	Scholarship-granting organizations award scholarships; there is no state family application queue.	Source
Virginia	Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits Program	Approved scholarship foundations make scholarship payments and control family application procedures.	Source

Source: Official state agency and treasury pages linked in each row. Last verified August 1, 2026.

Table 6. District-administered tuitioning states

Maine and Vermont fund qualifying tuition through local systems. The relevant operational unit is the district or municipality, not a statewide family queue.

Table 6. District-administered tuitioning states
State	Program	What the application structure means	Source
Maine	Town tuitioning	Eligible sending municipalities or school administrative units pay tuition; administration is local.	Source
Vermont	Town tuitioning	Tuitioning is administered through local districts rather than one statewide family application.	Source

Source: Maine Department of Education and Vermont statutes, linked in the table. Last verified August 1, 2026.

Jurisdictions with no qualifying route

No qualifying 2026–27 route was identified under this tracker’s application-focused rules in the following 18 states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington.

That sentence does not mean those states have no school choice. It does not exclude charter schools, public open enrollment, private financial aid, local scholarships, or ordinary education tax benefits.

Cross-check source: National Conference of State Legislatures, Education Choice Policy Resources. State program sources control whenever a qualifying current route is identified.

6. Which programs reached a limit or use a waitlist without publishing a numeric count?

At least five state-coordinated routes publicly acknowledge a waiting list or active award movement without publishing any numeric statewide list tied to 2026–27: D.C., Idaho, Maryland, New Hampshire, and North Carolina. Their public evidence is operational, not numerical.

Table 7. Published queue or capacity evidence without a numeric current-season total

Table 7. Published queue or capacity evidence without a numeric current-season total
Jurisdiction	What the source establishes	What remains unpublished
District of Columbia	A lottery is used when applications exceed scholarships; nonselected applicants are waitlisted.	Current numeric queue.
Idaho	Nonpriority applicants are waitlisted while priority applications are processed.	Current numeric queue and final queue composition.
Maryland	Awards continue to the next eligible student on the waiting list as families decline, through December 11.	Current numeric queue.
New Hampshire	Nonpriority applicants may be placed on a waiting list if space is full; applications remain rolling and later awards are prorated.	Current numeric queue.
North Carolina	Opportunity applications are reviewed in recurring rounds as funds allow; ESA+ made additional offers in lottery priority order.	Current numeric statewide queue.

Source: D.C. Opportunity Scholarship, Idaho My School Choice, Maryland BOOST parent FAQ, New Hampshire EFA application page, North Carolina K\u201312 scholarships. Last verified August 1, 2026.

South Carolina is different: it published a numeric carried-forward list of more than 6,000 students, but it did not publish an updated post-application balance after the 2026–27 cycle reached its 15,000-student cap.

This is why “four states published a number” must never be shortened to “only four states have a waitlist.” The first statement is scoped and supported. The second is false.

7. The four states with a numeric waitlist tied to 2026–27

Texas Education Freedom Accounts

Texas received 274,036 applications, issued 95,934 initial awards, classified 25,400 applications as ineligible, and placed 152,702 eligible student applications on the initial waitlist. At least 5,499 initially waitlisted students had received awards by June 23.

Applications ran February 4 through March 31. Texas funded all eligible Tier 1 students and siblings, then awarded Tier 2 in random sequential order until available funding was allocated. Eligible applicants who were not awarded entered the waitlist by priority tier and lottery position.

The initial waitlist is not the current waitlist. The June 23 update says 5,499 waitlisted students received awards using funds made available when other students opted out or selected the lower-funded homeschool/other setting.

Accurate:

“Texas reported 152,702 eligible student applications on its initial waitlist as of May 18, 2026.”

Inaccurate shortcut:

“152,702 Texans are currently waiting for vouchers.”

Tennessee Education Freedom Scholarship

Tennessee reported 56,440 applications, 35,000 reserved scholarships, and 17,735 applications remaining on the waitlist as of May 7, 2026.

The same release reports a 99% renewal rate, applications from 93 of 95 counties, and a 31.8% year-over-year increase. The figures do not fully reconcile into named outcome categories. The 3,705-application remainder is real arithmetic, but its meaning is not published. The page preserves the three official figures without inventing a fourth category.

Utah Fits All Scholarship

Odyssey, Utah’s authorized program administrator, reported more than 18,700 awards and more than 8,800 waitlisted students on June 17, 2026.

Odyssey said another 1,000–2,000 awards were expected in August after prior-year funds rolled over and the opt-in deadline passed. It also stated that an unaccepted award would move to a waitlisted student. That makes the June 17 figure a dated snapshot, not a stable balance. No later official numeric statewide queue was located by August 1.

South Carolina Education Scholarship Trust Fund

South Carolina’s Department of Education reported a waiting list of more than 6,000 additional studentsin its January 2026 budget materials, but that figure was carried forward from the prior cycle for entrance into 2026–27. It is not the current balance after the 2026–27 application closed at 15,000 students.

In June 2025, after the program reached its 10,000-student cap, the Department announced a waitlist for entrance into 2026–27. Its FY 2026–27 budget request later said the Department had maintained a waiting list of more than 6,000 additional students while seeking funding for at least 20,000 students in 2026–27. The current program page says the application closed after the statutory 15,000-student limit was reached. No updated numeric post-application queue was published by August 1.

8. Which school voucher applications are open on August 1, 2026?

A route is publicly open in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Wisconsin has program-specific windows. D.C. and Mississippi publish an application route without a clear current closing date.

Table 8. Publicly open or operational routes on August 1, 2026

Table 8. Publicly open or operational routes on August 1, 2026
Jurisdiction	Program	What “open” means on August 1	Current date or condition
Arizona	Empowerment Scholarship Account	Year-round application; funding depends on contract quarter.	Rolling
Florida	FTC/FES-EO, FES-UA, and PEP	FTC/FES-EO remains open to new applicants; a FES-UA application or scholarship-switch route remains available; PEP is closed.	FTC/FES-EO new applicants through November 15; PEP closed April 30
Georgia	Promise Scholarship	Current window applies to the spring portion of 2026–27.	August 1–31; another window November 1–30
Indiana	Education Scholarship Account	Post-priority ESA application remains available.	Through September 1
New Hampshire	Education Freedom Account	Applications are rolling; applications completed and verified after July 15 receive a prorated current-year award.	Open through February for a prorated award
North Carolina	Opportunity Scholarship	Post-priority applications are reviewed in recurring rounds as funds allow.	Rolling after priority period
Ohio	EdChoice Expansion	A participating school submits after accepting the student.	2026–27 application window through June 30, 2027
West Virginia	Hope Scholarship	Applications are year-round, but the award is reduced by submission period.	An August 1 application falls in the 75% award period
Wyoming	Steamboat Legacy Scholarship	Current family application remains open.	Closes August 6 at 11:59:59 p.m.; status by September 1
Wisconsin	Choice programs	Timing varies by program and participating school.	Check the applicable program window
District of Columbia	Opportunity Scholarship Program	A public application route exists, but the current page does not clearly post a closing date.	Verify with the authorized administrator
Mississippi	Education Scholarship Account	Current 2026–27 application material is available, but the reviewed page does not clearly establish the present deadline.	Verify with the Mississippi Department of Education

Source: The official and authorized-administrator pages linked in Table 4. Last verified August 1, 2026.

Arkansas is not included in this open list. Its official 2026–27 schedule ended June 1. An accessible portal link is not evidence that a current application can still be submitted.

9. How do school voucher lotteries, priorities, and queues work?

Programs allocate limited funding through priority groups, random selection, submission order, renewal preference, school submission, or combinations of those rules.

Priority groups

Texas funds priority tiers in statutory order. Tennessee reviewed applications by five priority categories and order received. Utah prioritizes applicants according to its program rules before further awards move from the waitlist.

Random selection

Texas used a random number generator to assign sequential positions, then grouped siblings according to the household’s highest-priority applicant. D.C. says first-time applicants enter a lottery when applications exceed available scholarships.

Submission order

Idaho processes applications in order received after its income-priority step. Oklahoma says all applications submitted by the deadline are processed in the order received. North Carolina reviews post-priority Opportunity Scholarship applications in recurring rounds as funds allow.

School-submitted applications

Ohio’s EdChoice Expansion route begins with acceptance at a participating private school. The school then submits the scholarship request. That structure can produce school-level capacity issues without one statewide family application queue.

Why queues move

An award is not always a completed enrollment. Families may decline, miss an acceptance deadline, change educational setting, lose eligibility, or fail to complete school confirmation. Funds then return to the pool and can move to another applicant. Texas, Utah, Maryland, and North Carolina all publish some version of this movement, but only Texas and Utah attach a current-season number to the queue in the sources reviewed.

10. Why school voucher waitlists cannot be added into a national total

The four official figures count different objects on different dates at different stages. Twenty other state-coordinated routes publish no numeric statewide list tied to 2026–27, and only three states publish a numeric queue generated by the current application or selection cycle. There is no defensible national school voucher waitlist total in public 2026–27 data.

Table 9. Why the four official figures are not comparable

Table 9. Why the four official figures are not comparable
Jurisdiction	Unit	Stage	Snapshot date	Known or expected movement
Texas	Eligible student applications	Initial ordered current-cycle queue	May 18, 2026	5,499 initially waitlisted students awarded by June 23; current balance unpublished
Tennessee	Applications	Current-cycle post-selection snapshot	May 7, 2026	Later statewide numeric balance not located
Utah	Students	Current-cycle post-award snapshot	June 17, 2026	Administrator expected another 1,000–2,000 awards in August
South Carolina	Additional students	Carried-forward pre-application list for entrance into 2026–27	January 2026	Current cycle later closed at 15,000 students; updated balance unpublished

Source: Texas Comptroller, Tennessee Department of Education, Odyssey, and South Carolina Department of Education, linked above. Last verified August 1, 2026.

Unit mismatch. An application may represent one or more students. Tennessee’s applications cannot be added cleanly to Utah’s students.

Date mismatch. The snapshots cover different dates during an active award period.

Stage mismatch. Texas published an initial queue; the other sources published later post-selection or post-award snapshots.

Missing-state problem. Twenty other state-coordinated routes have no numeric statewide list tied to 2026–27 in the sources reviewed, 21 have no numeric current-cycle selection queue, and decentralized programs do not maintain one statewide family queue.

11. Data dictionary

The downloadable files preserve missing values as null or blank. They never substitute zero for an unpublished figure.

Data dictionary for the school voucher applications and waitlists dataset
Field	Definition
`jurisdiction`	State or District of Columbia name.
`jurisdiction_code`	Two-letter jurisdiction code.
`category`	State-coordinated, scholarship-organization administered, district-administered, or no qualifying route under scope.
`program_name`	Program or program group used for the operational classification.
`application_status`	Status label as of the verification date.
`status_as_of`	Date supporting the recorded status.
`demand_disclosure`	Latest application, student, award, capacity, or enrollment detail used in the row.
`waitlist_value`	Numeric queue value when published; null otherwise.
`waitlist_qualifier`	“More than,” “approximately,” or another source qualifier.
`waitlist_unit`	Applications, eligible student applications, students, or the source’s own unit.
`waitlist_as_of`	Date attached to the numeric queue.
`waitlist_disclosure_status`	Current-cycle numeric snapshot, carried-forward numeric snapshot, acknowledged without count, no single queue, not found, not yet determined, or not applicable.
`source_titles` / `sources`	Official or authorized source titles.
`source_urls`	Source URLs used for the row.
`source_retrieved`	Date the source was checked.
`notes`	Comparability, process, or source caveat needed to interpret the row.
`row_version`	Dataset version in which the row was published.

12. Limitations

The strongest use of this dataset is precise quotation of a dated state figure or comparison of public disclosure. It is not a substitute for a live program portal, and it cannot recover numbers that states and administrators do not publish.

This is a snapshot. Application windows, award decisions, queue positions, and statutory funding can change after August 1, 2026.
“Not published” is not “zero.” It means no numeric statewide current-season queue was found in the official or authorized sources reviewed.
The 24-state denominator is a published classification. A different scope could produce a different denominator. Every jurisdiction is listed so the classification can be audited.
Decentralized queues are outside the statewide count. Scholarship organizations, schools, and districts may maintain their own lists.
Application counts are not automatically eligible-demand counts. Texas separated 25,400 ineligible applications. Tennessee left 3,705 applications outside its published reserved and waitlisted categories. Alabama’s rounded approval figure cannot support an exact residual.
A funding award is not a school seat. Private-school admissions and public-funding awards are separate processes.
Some current source pages are incomplete. D.C. and Mississippi do not clearly state a current closing date on the pages reviewed.
This page is educational. Program deadlines, eligibility, award amounts, and legal rules can change. A family making an enrollment or financial decision should confirm the current rule with the administering agency or authorized program administrator.

How often this tracker is updated

Application status is checked weekly from March through September and monthly otherwise. Numeric queues are checked weekly while awards are moving. Statutory capacity and program structure are reviewed after enacted legislation, appropriations, court orders, or agency announcements. The visible verification date changes only after the affected rows and their sources have actually been rechecked.

Dataset version: 2026-08-01
Last full 51-jurisdiction review: August 1, 2026
Next scheduled full review: September 1, 2026

Change log

Dataset change log
Date	Scope	Change
2026-08-01	Full dataset	Published the first 51-jurisdiction application-route and waitlist-disclosure snapshot.

Frequently asked questions

Which states publish a numeric school voucher waitlist?

South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah published an official numeric statewide waitlist tied to 2026–27. Texas, Tennessee, and Utah published current-cycle application or selection queues; South Carolina’s more-than-6,000 figure was a carried-forward pre-application list. D.C., Idaho, Maryland, New Hampshire, and North Carolina acknowledge a queue or continued award movement without publishing a numeric statewide count.

Which state has the largest published school voucher waitlist?

Texas published the largest dated figure: 152,702 eligible student applications on the initial waitlist as of May 18, 2026. It is not a current remaining total; at least 5,499 initially waitlisted students had received awards by June 23.

How many students are on school voucher waitlists nationwide?

There is no defensible current national total. Four states publish an official numeric list tied to 2026–27, but only three are current-cycle selection queues; their units, dates, and stages differ, and most state-coordinated routes publish no number at all.

Can I calculate a waitlist by subtracting awards from applications?

No. In Texas, applications minus awards produced 178,102, while the official initial waitlist was 152,702. The entire 25,400 difference was the published ineligible count.

Does “no published waitlist” mean every eligible applicant was funded?

No. It means the source reviewed did not publish a numeric statewide current-season queue. A program may acknowledge a waiting list, reach a statutory cap, continue making offers, or operate through decentralized organizations without publishing one number.

Does a closed application mean a waitlist exists?

No. A window may close because its deadline passed, a cap was reached, selections were issued, or the program is between application periods. The source must explicitly establish a queue before the page describes one.

Are school voucher waitlists first-come or lottery-based?

Both models exist, along with priority tiers and school-submitted processes. Texas uses priorities and random sequential positions; Idaho applies an income-priority step and then processes in order received; D.C. uses a lottery when first-time demand exceeds available scholarships.

Will a family be told its waitlist position?

That depends on the program. Texas says families receive their priority tier and approximate waitlist position. Many programs publish no positional information, and decentralized scholarship organizations may use different rules.

Do waitlists carry over to the next school year?

Not automatically. Louisiana required families who had been waitlisted in the prior cycle to submit a new application for 2026–27. A family should not assume a queue position survives into a new program year unless the administering source says it does.

Can families apply after a priority deadline?

Sometimes. North Carolina continues reviewing post-priority Opportunity Scholarship applications in recurring rounds as funds allow, and Indiana’s ESA remains open through September 1. Late or post-priority applications may receive different timing, priority, or funding treatment.

Is a private-school admissions waitlist the same as a voucher waitlist?

No. A voucher or ESA waitlist concerns public funding. A school admissions waitlist concerns an available seat. A family can receive funding without securing a seat, or secure a seat without receiving funding.

What is the difference between a voucher, an ESA, and a tax-credit scholarship?

A voucher generally pays public funds toward private-school tuition. An education savings account places public funds in an account usable for approved education expenses. A tax-credit scholarship is funded through tax-credited donations and usually administered by scholarship organizations.

Downloads

School Voucher Applications and Waitlists — CSV

51 jurisdictions · 17 fields · Last verified August 1, 2026

↓ CSV

School Voucher Applications and Waitlists — JSON

51 jurisdictions · Full field set · Last verified August 1, 2026

↓ JSON

How to cite this page

Suggested citation: The School Choice Index Editorial Team. “School Voucher Applications and Waitlists by State (2026).” The School Choice Index. Last updated August 1, 2026. https://theschoolchoiceindex.com/research/school-voucher-applications-waitlists-by-state/

Accurate quotation format for the most-used figure: “Texas reported 152,702 eligible student applications on its initial waitlist as of May 18, 2026.” That wording preserves the unit, eligibility status, stage, jurisdiction, and date.

Primary sources

About this research

The School Choice Index is an independent comparison and research resource for U.S. school choice programs. Official state agency, treasury, tax authority, legislature, program portal, school-submission, district, and authorized-administrator sources were reviewed for every state and the District of Columbia. Figures were recorded in their source unit with a retrieval date, and arithmetic was reproduced only where the published components support it.

School voucher application and waitlist information is scattered across different systems and reported in incompatible units. This page makes the evidence inspectable without manufacturing a national total the underlying data cannot support.