New Hampshire school choice program tops 10,000, will expand further next year

School choice participation has doubled in New Hampshire after lawmakers lifted income restrictions, and the program will expand further next year.

The Granite State has 10,000 students enrolled in Education Freedom Accounts for the 2025-2026 school year, with another 295 students on the wait list, The Children’s Scholarship Fund New Hampshire announced, the sole administrator for the EFA.

The Republican-led state expanded the Northeast’s only universal school choice program under Gov. Kelly Ayotte this spring.

Per state law, because the program reached its cap of 10,000 students, the cap will rise 25% to 12,500 next year as part of a scalability clause. The state has about 185,000 school-aged children, meaning more than 5% of the state’s students now use school choice.

Participants receive the state’s portion of their education funding, or about $5,000 of the approximately $22,000 spent per public school pupil. The money can be used to pay for expenses ranging from private school tuition to homeschool materials or tutoring, enabling parents to customize their child’s education to fit individual needs.

“Every one of these 10,000 students has a story,” said Kate Baker Demers, the scholarship fund’s executive director, in a release. “Some are kids who finally feel safe and seen. Others are discovering a love of learning in ways they never had before. That’s the power of educational freedom.”

This year’s participants include a significant number from economically disadvantaged households, the scholarship fund reported. Overall, 60% of EFA’s are going to “priority groups” which are based on income, geographic barriers or special educational needs.

A single mother named Natalie praised the scholarship grant: “My daughter used to get overwhelmed in big group settings,” she said, according to the fund. “She has anxiety… But now she’s reading above grade level and writing in cursive. It’s night and day.”

The release also quoted a participant named Isabella, who described her experience before receiving the EFA: “I wasn’t challenged… it felt like I was just going through the motions… I wasn’t reaching my full potential.” Today she’s thriving at the private Tilton School, having joined the National Honor Society.

The Granite State is one of 18 states to offer universal school choice, where funds are available to all families regardless of income or geographic location. Such programs are spreading rapidly across the states, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, although they are mostly in red or purple states.

New Hampshire is the only right-leaning state in the Northeast. Still, Baker Demers said school choice isn’t about politics.

“This program isn’t about labels or sides. It’s about children,” she said. “We owe them more than a system that sorts them by zip code. We owe them the freedom to thrive.”

Featured image: Courtesy Children’s Scholarship Fund New Hampshire