Texas ESA Bill: TEFA Eligibility, Amounts, and Priority Tiers

The Texas ESA program, officially called Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA), is a state-funded education savings account that pays approved education expenses for eligible Texas students. For the 2026–27 school year, students attending an approved private school receive $10,474, homeschooled students receive up to $2,000, and students with a disability who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) on file can receive up to $30,000. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts runs the program, and the first cohort of students starts in the 2026–27 school year.¹

Who Qualifies

The eligibility bar is lower than many families expect. A child qualifies if they are a U.S. citizen or national (or lawfully admitted to the country), reside in Texas, and are eligible to attend a public school or open-enrollment charter school. Children eligible for pre-K or kindergarten also qualify.¹

There is no blanket requirement that a child previously attended public school. A 90% prior public school enrollment rule that circulated in earlier drafts only applies as a tiebreaker within the highest-income priority group.

Priority Tiers If Demand Exceeds Funding

The Legislature appropriated $1 billion for the first year, which still may not cover every applicant. If demand exceeds funding, the Comptroller ranks applicants in this order:¹

Tier 1: Children with a disability whose household income is at or below 500% of the federal poverty level.
Tier 2: Children from households with income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
Tier 3: Children from households with income between 200% and 500% of the federal poverty level.
Tier 4: Children from households with income above 500% of the federal poverty level. Within this group, students who attended a Texas public or charter school for at least 90% of the prior year get priority. Funding for this tier cannot exceed 20% of the program’s annual appropriation.

If a child is accepted, any eligible sibling who applies during the same window is automatically accepted as well. After Year 1, returning participants in good standing don’t need to reapply, and siblings of current participants get first priority among new applicants.²

How Much Money Each Student Gets

The dollar amount depends on where the child is educated and whether they have a disability.

Private school students: $10,474 for 2026–27. This equals 85% of the estimated statewide average of state and local funding per student in average daily attendance, as calculated by the Texas Education Agency.
Students with disabilities with an IEP on file: Up to $30,000 per year when attending an approved private school. The exact amount depends on the student’s IEP instructional arrangement and district of residence.
Homeschooled students: Up to $2,000 per year.

The TEA recalculates the private school amount annually, so the $10,474 figure is specific to 2026–27 and will change in future years. Families of a child with a disability can look up the specific amount by district of residence and IEP instructional arrangement code on the TEA funding table.²

What the Money Can Pay For

TEFA funds can only go toward education-related expenses the Comptroller has approved. The list is broader than tuition but has clear boundaries:²

Tuition and fees at private schools, higher education programs, online courses, and programs offering a TEA-approved industry-based credential.
Textbooks, curriculum materials, and required uniforms.
Fees for nationally norm-referenced exams and other academic evaluations.
Fees paid to preapproved tutoring providers.
Educational therapies such as speech-language and occupational therapy, but only if they aren’t already covered by Medicaid or another government benefit.
Transportation to and from approved providers.
Computer hardware and software, capped at 10% of the total amount transferred to the child’s account that year.
Meals provided by a participating private school.
Fees for classes offered by a public school district when the student isn’t counted in the district’s average daily attendance.

That last category matters because it means TEFA students aren’t completely locked out of public school offerings. If a local district offers a specialized class or extracurricular, a TEFA student can pay the fee from their account without affecting the district’s enrollment count.

How to Apply

Parents apply through the Comptroller’s online portal at educationfreedom.texas.gov. The application window for the 2026–27 school year ran from February 4 through 11:59 p.m. Central Time on March 31, 2026. The program is not first-come, first-served, so applying on day one gave no advantage over applying on the last day.¹ Future application windows have not been announced, but the program framework calls for annual cycles.

During the application, you must establish that your child is a U.S. citizen or lawful resident, resides in Texas, and is eligible for public school enrollment. Families claiming disability priority need either an IEP already on file with TEA or a program-approved proof-of-disability form submitted with the application.

One nuance is worth flagging for families of children with disabilities. Only students with an IEP on file at the time the application window closes qualify for the higher disability funding amount of up to $30,000. Submitting a proof-of-disability form alone gets you priority placement but not the increased dollar amount.¹

If eligible applicants exceed available funding, the Comptroller runs a lottery within the priority tiers described above.

When the Money Arrives

TEFA does not deposit money into your personal bank account. Accepted families access funds through the TEFA Marketplace, an online platform where you pay preapproved providers and vendors directly. Funds are released on a staggered schedule for 2026–27:¹

July 1, 2026: at least 25% of approved funding available.
October 1, 2026: at least 50% available.
April 1, 2027: remaining funding available.

You won’t have the full amount on day one. Families whose private school requires annual tuition upfront should plan around this timeline. Any funds left unspent at the end of the school year roll over to the next year as long as the child remains in the program. Accounts become inactive once a participant graduates, withdraws, or loses eligibility.²

Which Private Schools Can Accept TEFA

Not every private school in Texas can accept TEFA funds. To participate, a private school must meet all of the following:¹

Be physically located in Texas.
Be accredited by an organization recognized by the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission (TPSAC) or another accreditor recognized by TEA.
Have been in continuous operation for at least two school years before applying.
Annually administer a nationally norm-referenced assessment to participating TEFA students in grades 3 through 12.

Schools that meet these criteria still aren’t required to accept TEFA students. Participation is voluntary, and the law explicitly protects private school autonomy over admissions, curriculum, employment decisions, and religious practices.³ Educational service providers and vendors of educational products must also be preapproved by the Comptroller before receiving payments through the Marketplace.

What Families of Children With Disabilities Give Up

This is where the trade-offs are most serious. When a child with a disability leaves a public school to use TEFA funds at a private school, they lose their rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). No more IEP, no guaranteed accommodations, and no procedural protections if a dispute arises with the school. The TEFA program website states this directly: private schools are not subject to federal and state special education laws in the same way as public school districts or charter schools.¹

Private schools also have no legal obligation to accept students with disabilities, and participating in TEFA doesn’t change that. A private school can decline to enroll your child or ask your child to leave if it determines it cannot meet the child’s needs. The Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities has said that once you leave the public school system, your child is no longer entitled to an IEP or any services guaranteed under IDEA.⁴

The higher funding amount, up to $30,000, helps offset the cost of private special education services, but it does not replicate the legal framework public schools operate under. If a private placement doesn’t work out, the child can re-enroll in public school and regain IDEA protections, though the transition can disrupt services.

Oversight and Compliance

The Texas Comptroller has direct oversight of all TEFA transactions. State law requires the Comptroller to contract with a private entity to audit accounts and verify program eligibility at least once a year, and the State Auditor conducts periodic audits to confirm funds are going toward approved expenses and that participants still meet eligibility requirements.¹

Approved providers and vendors must have the legal right to transact business in Texas and agree to comply with program requirements. The Comptroller can suspend or remove providers and vendors that fail to meet those standards, and participant accounts can be frozen or suspended if spending patterns raise compliance concerns.⁵

1
Texas Education Freedom Accounts. Texas Education Freedom Accounts
2
Texas Education Freedom Accounts. Families – Texas Education Freedom Accounts
3
TX Parents Matter. School Leader FAQs
4
Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities. Texas School Vouchers and Students with Disabilities
5
Justia Law. Texas Education Code Title 2, Subtitle F, Chapter 29, Subchapter J – Education Savings Account Program