ESAs: What Sets Them Apart
Families and students can use an account to purchase more than one education item or service.
Account holders can save money from year to year.
Students may use an account to attend a private school but are not required to use their account for private school tuition.
ESAs, Tax-Credit ESAs, Account-Style Scholarships, and Private School Vouchers
Vouchers are private school scholarships that help families afford tuition. With an ESA, the state deposits a portion of a child’s spending from the K-12 education formula into a private account that parents use to buy education products and services. ESAs give parents greater flexibility than vouchers because they can be used for many different kinds of educational tools to customize a child’s education and use multiple learning options at once. With a tax-credit ESA, parents buy education items and services and a charitable donor contributing to the scholarship organization receives a credit on their taxes for their contribution. Some states offer account-style scholarships that allow families to purchase different learning products but students must attend a private school or families cannot save account funds from year to year.
ESAs in the States
ESA growth in the U.S. between 2027 & 2026
