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Applications for Arkansas鈥� school voucher program are now open, the state鈥檚 education department announced Tuesday.

This marks the fourth year of the program and the second year it鈥檚 been open to all Arkansas K-12 students after being phased in with increasing eligibility.

Created under an expansive , the Educational Freedom Account program permits state funding to be used for , such as private school tuition, homeschool curriculum, laptops, tutoring and educational therapies. Participating students could receive up to during the 2025-2026 school year. That will increase to $7,208 for the 2026-2027 academic year, according to education department spokesperson Kaelin Clay.

Student applications have historically opened in March or , except for the program鈥檚 first year when delayed implementation. As was the case , applications will be reviewed for funding priority within a series of three-week windows that ends June 1.

Applications are not processed strictly on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the . Instead, they鈥檙e prioritized based on categories during each three-week window.

The highest priority categories are returning EFA students, students with specialized needs and students attending a school with a 鈥淒鈥� or 鈥淔鈥� rating under the state鈥檚 .

More than 44,000 students are participating in the program this year, and could choose from nearly 170 private schools and over 2,500 approved vendors, according to . Applications for schools interested in participating in the program opened in February, Clay said.

鈥淓very student has unique strengths and challenges, which is why offering multiple education pathways is essential,鈥� Education Secretary Jacob Oliva said in the release. 鈥淏y supporting the Education Freedom Account program, we are empowering parents to choose the learning environment that best fits their child鈥檚 needs, and the number of families enrolled proves the program鈥檚 success.鈥�

Democrats and some rural Republican lawmakers have voiced concern about the growing cost of the program, which represents the largest increase to the governor鈥檚 for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The proposed budget includes more than $309 million for the program, $122 million more than last year鈥檚 budget. The amount matches what was ultimately spent on the program this year.

The budget also calls for setting aside another $70 million from surplus funding for anticipated program growth.

More information about the program and applications are available on the education department鈥檚 .

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew DeMillo for questions: [email protected].

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