Which private schools take part in school choice, by affiliation
21 states and DC publish an official list of the private schools taking part in their program. On those lists, 78% of schools are religiously affiliated, against 60% of the private schools that are not on one. Catholic schools take part most often (80%), nonsectarian schools least often (42%).
- Catholic 80% 1,606 of 1,996 schools
- Other faiths 62% 265 of 425 schools
- Other Christian 55% 2,630 of 4,785 schools
- Nonsectarian 42% 1,304 of 3,073 schools
State by state
Each cell is the share of that kind of school on the state's list, with the count of schools in the federal survey. Click a column heading to sort.
| State | Program | Catholic | Other Christian | Other faiths | Nonsectarian | Religious share of listed schools | List date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | CHOOSE Act | 97% of 30 | 64% of 163 | 100% of 6 | 51% of 61 | 82% | |
| Arkansas | EFA | 96% of 23 | 76% of 67 | 100% of 1 | 52% of 23 | 86% | |
| District of Columbia | OSP | 89% of 18 | 29% of 7 | 0% of 3 | 33% of 21 | 72% | |
| Florida | FES / FTC | 98% of 188 | 84% of 846 | 84% of 110 | 73% of 784 | 63% | |
| Georgia | Promise Scholarship | 83% of 35 | 44% of 333 | 29% of 24 | 27% of 197 | 78% | |
| Indiana | Choice Scholarship | 96% of 158 | 47% of 286 | 63% of 16 | 25% of 69 | 95% | |
| Iowa | Students First ESA | 87% of 91 | 88% of 64 | 100% of 3 | 61% of 23 | 91% | |
| Kansas | TCLISS | 95% of 85 | 60% of 53 | 33% of 3 | 14% of 21 | 97% | |
| Maine | Town tuitioning | 11% of 9 | 0% of 21 | 0% of 1 | 34% of 71 | 4% | |
| Maryland | BOOST | 77% of 118 | 13% of 168 | 57% of 40 | 5% of 190 | 93% | |
| Nevada | Opportunity Scholarship | 89% of 9 | 68% of 38 | 67% of 9 | 53% of 36 | 68% | |
| North Carolina | Opportunity Scholarship | 91% of 45 | 82% of 311 | 68% of 19 | 62% of 193 | 72% | |
| Ohio | EdChoice / Cleveland Scholarship | 90% of 310 | 36% of 372 | 72% of 39 | 30% of 159 | 90% | |
| Oklahoma | PCTC | 100% of 28 | 78% of 82 | 100% of 3 | 72% of 25 | 84% | |
| Pennsylvania | OSTC | 56% of 310 | 15% of 585 | 26% of 53 | 7% of 413 | 90% | |
| South Carolina | ESTF | 52% of 29 | 48% of 162 | 36% of 11 | 30% of 74 | 81% | |
| Tennessee | EFS | 94% of 31 | 51% of 221 | 42% of 19 | 34% of 102 | 81% | |
| Texas | TEFA | 94% of 199 | 60% of 563 | 68% of 50 | 51% of 451 | 71% | |
| Vermont | Town tuitioning | 0% of 12 | 0% of 10 | 0% of 1 | 19% of 67 | 0% | |
| West Virginia | Hope | 86% of 21 | 81% of 62 | 100% of 3 | 83% of 12 | 88% | |
| Wisconsin | WI Choice | 56% of 241 | 60% of 359 | 82% of 11 | 17% of 72 | 97% | |
| Wyoming | Steamboat Legacy ESA | 100% of 6 | 92% of 12 | no schools | 44% of 9 | 81% | |
| All 21 states and DC | 80% of 1,996 | 55% of 4,785 | 62% of 425 | 42% of 3,073 | 78% | ||
Download every row: school-choice-schools-by-affiliation.csv (CC BY 4.0).
How we counted
- Schools are the private schools in the U.S. Department of Education's Private School Universe Survey for 2023-24 that we list in each state, the same base as our participation by state study. A school that appears twice under two names is counted once.
- Affiliation is the religious orientation the school gave that survey. "Other Christian" is Protestant and nondenominational Christian schools; "other faiths" is Jewish, Islamic and the survey's other religious answers.
- On the list means the state's own participation list names the school. We match by school name and town, or by address or phone where the names differ. A listed school we could not match counts as not on the list, so each share is a floor.
- Schools we know only from a state list (new since the survey, or missed by it) gave no survey answer about affiliation, so they are not in this table.
- Programs are built differently. A voucher, an education savings account, a tax credit scholarship and town tuitioning reach schools in different ways, and program rules shape who signs up. The lists with the lowest religious share are in Vermont and Maine. Compare states with care.
Questions
Are religious private schools more likely to take part in school choice programs?
In the 21 states and DC that publish an official list, yes on the whole. 80% of Catholic schools, 55% of other Christian schools, 62% of Jewish, Islamic and other faith schools and 42% of nonsectarian schools in the federal survey are on their state's list.
What share of the schools on the lists are religious?
78% (4,501 of 5,805). Among the private schools in the same states that are not on a list, 60% are religious.
Where does the affiliation come from?
From the religious orientation each school gave the U.S. Department of Education in the 2023-24 Private School Universe Survey. We group Catholic, other Christian (Protestant and nondenominational), other faiths (Jewish, Islamic and the survey's other religious answers) and nonsectarian.
Does this page argue for or against funding religious schools?
No. It counts which schools are on each state's own list and shows the method, so readers on any side can check the same numbers.
Can I reuse this data?
Yes. The full table is a CSV download under CC BY 4.0: cite ChoiceFunded and link to this page.
Sources
Schools and affiliation: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Private School Universe Survey 2023-24. Participation: each state's published list, linked from its program page, with the date printed on the list or, for a list that carries none, the day we read it. This page is rebuilt whenever a list is reloaded, most recently . More studies: ChoiceFunded research.