What is TEFA, the Texas school voucher? Texas Education Freedom Accounts explained

Short answer, as of October 8, 2026: TEFA stands for Texas Education Freedom Accounts. It is the state program that pays for private school, homeschool materials and other approved education costs for Texas children. The Texas Comptroller runs it. A company called Odyssey administers the accounts and the marketplace. In its first year (2026-27) the program received more than 274,000 applications and funded more than 109,000 students by August 28, 2026, with more than 106,000 on the waitlist in September.

Many people search for it as the "Texas school voucher", the "Texas education voucher" or "Texas ESA". The official name is Texas Education Freedom Accounts, and the state calls it an education savings account, not a voucher. The difference matters for how the money moves: it goes into an account, and the account pays the school or vendor. It never comes to you as cash.

How much money a child gets

The net-cost calculator subtracts the award from a school's published tuition so you can see what is left to pay.

Who qualifies

The official FAQ sets three tests:

1. The child is a U.S. citizen or lawfully present in the United States.
2. The child is eligible to attend a Texas school district, open-enrollment charter school or public pre-K program. For pre-K the rules are narrower: the child must turn three before September 1 of the school year and meet one of the public pre-K criteria (for example, income below 185% of the federal poverty level, or a parent on active military duty).
3. The parent is a Texas resident.

Income is not a bar to applying. It decides your priority tier if there are more applications than money, which happened in year one. Our eligibility checker walks through the tests and the tiers. We do not save your answers.

In year one about 25,500 applicants were found ineligible. The most common reasons, per the official FAQ: pre-K children who did not meet the pre-K criteria, income that could not be confirmed (the program accepted only a Form 1040 for 2024 or 2025), and citizenship or residency that could not be confirmed.

How the lottery worked in year one

When applications exceed funding, state law sets a priority order. For 2026-27 it was:

• Tier 1: children with a disability in households at or below 500% of the federal poverty level.
• Tier 2: households at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
• Tier 3: households between 200% and 500%.
• Tier 4: households at or above 500%. Children who spent at least 90% of the prior year in a Texas public or charter school come first inside this group, and the group may not take more than 20% of the fund.

Awards went out in rounds: about 42,600 Tier 1 notices on April 22, 2026, more than 53,000 Tier 2 awards on May 4, and further rounds through the summer. From year two, siblings of participating children go first, then new applicants, then families who left for a public school. The income limits page has the dollar figures; the siblings page explains the year-two order.

Which schools take TEFA

A private school must be accredited by a body recognized by the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission or by the Texas Education Agency, must have run a campus for at least two years, must give a nationally norm-referenced test each year, and must be in Texas. A provider of a pre-K or kindergarten program joins on another rule: it must be located in Texas, be licensed by and in good standing with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and meet one of five further conditions listed on the official Schools page. Schools apply through Odyssey's school portal on a rolling basis.

The state's own finder listed 2,755 participating private schools on October 8, 2026 (834 in the Houston area). Our statewide catalog carries the Comptroller's own list, the participating-schools workbook dated October 5, 2026 (2,765 rows), with the date it was pulled, and the Houston hub adds tuition, seats and deadlines as schools confirm them. We never call a school "approved"; we say it is a participating school on the Comptroller's list, and we link that list.

What happens next

The 2026-27 application window ran February 4 to March 31, 2026. As of October 8, 2026 the Comptroller's site gives no date for the 2027-28 window. It offers a 2027-28 interest list and email updates. The deadline tracker will change the moment the Comptroller posts a date. Until then, the useful steps are: collect your 2025 tax return, ask your child's school district for a current IEP if your child has one, and shortlist schools that have room.

How we verify: every figure on this page is quoted from the Comptroller's pages on the date shown in the sources (checked October 8, 2026). Participation status comes only from the official participating-school list. This site is independent and is not affiliated with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts or Odyssey. See our methodology and what changed.