Waitlist Information
I’m on the waitlist. What’s next?
If a student is on the waitlist, their status will continue to appear as “eligible” in the program platform. No funding amount will be visible.
The Comptroller’s Office will periodically review program funding to issue additional awards to students on the waitlist.
Funds will become available to issue awards to more students for three reasons:
- Students opt out of the program.
- Students who initially applied as private school students select homeschool/other, lowering their funding amount to $2,000
- Appeals of eligibility, funding and prioritization get resolved, freeing up funding reserved by the Comptroller’s Office to accommodate those appeals.
Students will receive awards in sequential order, based on their prioritization tier and their position in the lottery sequence. When waitlisted students receive awards, they will be notified by email and text message, and an award amount will be visible in the program platform.
What waitlist positions are you communicating?
We are communicating an approximate position to all families on the waitlist to help provide a relative sense of where their students sit.
We are providing more precise positions to students who are higher on the waitlist, and communicating initial waitlist positions in the following ranges:
- 1 through 1,000
- 1,001 through 2,000
- 2,001 through 3,000
- 3,001 through 4,000
- 4,001 through 5,000
- 5,001 through 10,000
- 10,001 through 15,000
- 15,001 through 20,000
- 20,001-25,000
- 25,001 through 30,000
- 30,000 through 50,000
- 50,000 through 100,000
- 100,001 or higher
Students will continue to move up the waitlist as additional students in front of them receive awards. As a result, a student’s position on the waitlist will rise over the coming weeks.
How likely am I to come off the waitlist?
We expect an active waitlist and will reach out to families as funds are available; however, in the first year of a new program, we are not able to predict with certainty how far down the waitlist students will receive awards. We will continue to provide public updates as more students get awarded so that families can plan ahead for the upcoming school year.
What should I expect if my students come off the waitlist?
As funding allows, we will issue awards to all eligible students in the same household at one time. If a student is awarded an account, their funding amount will appear in the program platform, and their parent will be notified by email and text message.
Once this notification is received, it will be important to complete the following steps as soon as possible:
- Opt in to the program to confirm participation.
- Select a participating private school or homeschool/other. The school will also need to confirm the students’ enrollment.
- If applicable, withdraw your student from public school according to the district or charter school’s policies.
Please note that students who remain enrolled in public school are not eligible to receive TEFA funding. If a participating student appears in a public-school enrollment check, they will be removed from the program and their funding will be returned to the state.
What happens after I opt in and select a participating school?
A school must confirm a student’s enrollment to allow that student to receive funding. The deadlines are as follows:
- Students whose parents opt in and select a school by June 1 and have schools confirm enrollment by June 15 can receive funding July 1.
- Students whose parents opt in and select a school by July 15 and have schools confirm enrollment by July 31 can receive funding in August.
- Students whose parents do not complete these steps by July 15 will forfeit their awards, and their funding will be used to bring another student off the waitlist.
If my student remains on the waitlist for 2026-27, what will happen in future years?
State law requires the Comptroller’s Office to report students on the waitlist to the Legislature to inform future funding decisions. Accordingly, your student’s presence on the waitlist may help the program serve more students in future years.