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The Supply Side of ESAs: How Universal School Choice Programs Have Affected the Number of Private Schools and Home Education Vendors

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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Supply Side of ESAs: How Universal School Choice Programs Have Affected the Number of Private Schools and Home Education Vendors
Language: English
Authors: Susan Pendergrass, EdChoice
Source: EdChoice. 2025.
Availability: EdChoice. 111 Monument Circle Suite 2650, Indianapolis, IN 46204. Tel: 317-681-0745; e-mail: info@edchoice.org; Web site: http://www.edchoice.org
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 19
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Descriptors: School Choice, Educational Finance, Private Schools, Home Schooling, Scholarships, State Aid, Enrollment Trends, Tuition, Curriculum, Extracurricular Activities, Charter Schools, Elementary Secondary Education
Geographic Terms: Arizona, Indiana, New Hampshire, Utah, United States
Abstract: The number of private schools in the United States has been flat or slightly declining in the last few decades. However, in states that broadly offer families scholarships or vouchers for private school tuition, the number of private schools has gone up. This report analyzes if and how increased demand for private schooling and homeschooling, supported by public subsidies, has changed the number and types of private schools and homeschool vendors. Focus is set on private schools and comparing states that have more publicly funded private school choice programs to those with fewer programs, looking at enrollment trends in both. States with universal scholarship programs, often referred to as education savings accounts (ESAs), are specifically examined. With an ESA, parents can either choose a private school or craft a home education for their children by using a marketplace to find education vendors that provide curricula, extracurricular activities, field trips, educational therapies and other items. Arizona, as one of the first states to enact an ESA program and which stands out for the variety of its providers, is examined in detail. Anyone who wants to think about how to create new ESA programs or expand existing ones can draw on this review of recent developments.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: ED673315
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:The number of private schools in the United States has been flat or slightly declining in the last few decades. However, in states that broadly offer families scholarships or vouchers for private school tuition, the number of private schools has gone up. This report analyzes if and how increased demand for private schooling and homeschooling, supported by public subsidies, has changed the number and types of private schools and homeschool vendors. Focus is set on private schools and comparing states that have more publicly funded private school choice programs to those with fewer programs, looking at enrollment trends in both. States with universal scholarship programs, often referred to as education savings accounts (ESAs), are specifically examined. With an ESA, parents can either choose a private school or craft a home education for their children by using a marketplace to find education vendors that provide curricula, extracurricular activities, field trips, educational therapies and other items. Arizona, as one of the first states to enact an ESA program and which stands out for the variety of its providers, is examined in detail. Anyone who wants to think about how to create new ESA programs or expand existing ones can draw on this review of recent developments.