Does my state have a school choice programme at all?
Programmes, amounts and rules change. Before acting on anything here, check the current details with the official source named in the answer.
In most states, yes. On this site's own verified state file, last fully reviewed on October 13, 2026, 35 states plus the District of Columbia record at least one state run programme, and 15 states record none. The states with no programme recorded in that file are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon and Washington. Nebraska is a special case in the file: its earlier scholarship laws were repealed by voters in November 2024, and a revival bill introduced in 2026 had not been enacted when the file was checked.
The programmes are not all the same kind. The main forms are an education savings account, where a parent directs an account toward tuition and other approved costs, a voucher, where public funding pays tuition at a participating school, and a tax credit scholarship, where donations to a scholarship organization earn the donor a tax credit and fund awards to families. The file also records narrower benefits in a few states, such as a refundable tax credit, a tax deduction or town tuitioning for towns without a public school, so national totals differ a little depending on what is counted. As a cross check, EdChoice reported private school choice in 34 states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico in its 2025 reporting, and a Congressional Research Service summary of EdChoice data from May 2025 put the figure at 35 states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico. Those figures are close to this site's file, and where they differ the official state source wins.
Having a programme does not mean every family qualifies or that every Christian school takes part. Some programmes are open to all students, others are limited by income, disability, prior public school attendance or where you live, and schools usually have to opt in as participating schools. Start on your state page on this site, where the school choice block for your state names each programme, its type and its official source, then confirm eligibility and participating schools on that official source before you apply. The new federal scholarship tax credit is separate from your state's own programmes and is covered on the federal tax credit pages.
Sources: Find Christian Schools, verified state file shared/schoolChoice.ts (last full review 2026-10-13; per state counts and programme types counted directly from the file); EdChoice, 2025 Annual Report and The ABCs of School Choice (cross check only); Congressional Research Service summary of EdChoice data, May 2025, Overview of Public and Private School Choice Options (cross check only). Checked October 2026.