Over 50,000 Arkansas students have applied for vouchers for the 2025–2026 academic year, and the Arkansas Department of Education remains dedicated to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ goal to provide funding for each applicant.
The deadline for applications was Friday. 50,781 pupils had applied for vouchers, also known as Education Freedom Accounts, according to a website run by the education department on Friday afternoon. In 2025–2026, the state will have to pay at least $6,994 per student for each voucher. The state would have to pay almost $355 million if all of those applications were accepted and the pupils took part in the program throughout the year.
That is far higher than the $277 million that the state has already allocated. Kim Mundell, a spokesman for the education department, stated last week that there is no cap on applications and that every application that is accepted will be funded.
According to Mundell, 44,476 pupils had received voucher approval as of August 6. Of those, 16,751 are homeschoolers and 27,727 attend private schools. Of the applicants, 456 are former recipients of the Succeed Scholarship, which funded private school education for students with disabilities. The state spent $7,771 on each voucher for these applicants.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published a statement from the governor’s office last month stating that Sanders is dedicated to providing financial aid to all qualified and applying students.
The Arkansas LEARNS Act of 2023 created the voucher program, which distributes state taxpayer money to cover tuition for private schools or other educational costs. The initiative, which cost roughly $32 million and funded 5,548 accounts in its initial year, had stringent eligibility conditions. 14,297 students got vouchers in the second year of the program, which tripled in cost to $97 million and relaxed qualifying rules the following year.
For the first time, the program is open to all Arkansas students this year.
Earlier this year, the Arkansas Legislature approved a $90 million infusion to the voucher program, bringing the program’s budget to $277 million, which is roughly $78 million less than what would be required if every student who applied received a voucher.
A priority list for voucher applicants was created by a law that was introduced earlier this year and revised the LEARNS act to limit the use of vouchers for extracurricular activities in the event that funds are insufficient.
Students who have previously received vouchers are given priority, followed by students who have previously participated in the Succeed Scholarship program, students with disabilities, homeless students, foster children, students who attended a public school that received a D or F rating the year before, students whose parents are veterans, active military personnel, or members of the Arkansas National Guard, students who are or have parents who are law enforcement officers, students who are or have parents who are first responders, and students starting kindergarten for the first time.
Mundell responded that there are plans to fund each approved application when asked about the priority list and when the state education department will begin using it.
However, officials are not concerned about the lack of funding.In a recent interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, state representative Bart Hester stated that he does not anticipate the Legislature having to provide additional funding for the voucher program.
According to Hester, the state will not have to pay $355 million all at once because it will fund the voucher program one month at a time. He stated that early withdrawals from the voucher scheme will eliminate the need for additional funds and that he anticipated some families who applied for a voucher would choose not to utilize it for the whole of the academic year.
As of 3:30 p.m., the voucher program’s online application gateway is still open, and before it permanently closes on Friday afternoon, there may be one last rush of applications.
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