Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger praised the legislature’s efforts of expanding school choice over the last decade. Liz Bell/EducationNC
Liz Bell | EducationNC
RALEIGH — In 2023, the N.C. General Assembly passed a state budget that included what Republicans called the “largest expansion of school choice” in 10 years.
Opportunity Scholarships are state-funded vouchers that families can use to pay for eligible private schools. You can see the current list of eligible private schools here.
The state’s private school voucher program previously served low-income students. The 2023 budget removed income eligibility requirements for recipients, starting with the 2024-25 school year. Now household income determines the amount of the scholarship — you can see the tiers here — and also impacts the lottery process.
The budget added $250 million to the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Reserve over the biennium, putting the revised appropriation for the reserve at $618 million for 2023-24 and 2024-25. The expansion increased funding to $4.4 billion over the next decade — an increase of $1.9 billion.
The N.C. State Educational Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) is the state agency designated by law to administer K-12 scholarship programs.
Following the expansion, NCSEAA received 69,511 eligible applications for the scholarships by the deadline on March 1, 2024.
On March 30, 2024, NCSEAA initially notified the families of 13,511 students that they had been offered a scholarship for the 2024-25 school year, according to a press release. These students were “new” students, which means they did not currently have a scholarship, and they could receive up to $7,468 based on the tuition and fees charged by the private school they would attend. Families had until April 19, 2024, to accept or decline the award offer.
On April 26, 2024, NCSEAA extended award offers to the families of 2,294 new students in Tier 2 for the 2024-25 school year. Those families have up to $115,440 in gross income for a family of four, and they could receive up to $6,722 based on the tuition and fees charged by the private school they would attend. Families had until May 17, 2024, to accept or decline the award offer.
In total, 15,805 new scholarships were offered.
Data on the NCSEAA website indicates that the number of scholarships disbursed has increased to date by just 4,594 — from 32,549 in 2023-24 to 34,798 as of Oct. 1, 2024, and then to 37,143 as of Nov. 4, 2024.
What accounts for the difference?
Some recipients of new scholarships declined them. Some may not have been admitted to the school of their choice. Some may not have enrolled after all.
Families had until July 1 to respond to renewal award offers. Some students did not renew their scholarship.
And some scholarships may not have been disbursed yet: students don’t show up in the data until both the school and parent certify that the student is enrolled and attending the school.
The NCSEAA website notes that funds are now being distributed for the fall 2024 semester, and the data is updated monthly.
To date, $122,619,982 has been disbursed for the 2024-25 school year, compared to $185,554,831 in total for 2023-24. Keep in mind it is early in the school year.
About 55,000 students remain on the waitlist.
On Sept. 20, 2024, Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed House Bill 10, which would provide additional funding for vouchers. If the General Assembly overrides the governor’s veto and additional funds become available, NCSEAA would begin awarding scholarships to eligible students on the waitlist as soon as possible.