Over 4,500 Additional TEFA Awards Issued to Tier 3 Students

This week, the Comptroller awarded Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) to nearly 4,500 additional students – all of whom were in Tier 3 for application priority.

There are currently over 118,000 students with active TEFA awards. This includes the more than 109,000 funded participants, as well as other students who have not yet opted in or confirmed enrollment in a participating school.

Parents will have four weeks from the date of their award to opt in and confirm enrollment. Parents of students in this award cycle will have to complete these steps by September 15 to receive their full award amount for the 2026-27 school year. If steps are not completed until after Sept 15, they will receive 75% of their award amount.

The program will continue to issue new awards to students on the waitlist until all available funding has been allocated to participating students. Our goal is to accommodate as many students as possible in year 1 – while giving families reasonable deadlines to make educational decisions and confirm enrollment for the coming school year.

So far, almost 50,000 students have received awards since the waitlist was first created. All students still on the waitlist have moved up that number of spots from their original positions.

If your student does not receive an award this year, you will need to reapply during a future TEFA application cycle. Families are encouraged to continue checking educationfreedom.texas.gov for the latest program updates, deadlines and information about future application opportunities.