Private school vouchers in NC: Who uses them and which schools get the most?

Bills making their way through the North Carolina General Assembly would open private school vouchers, known as Opportunity Scholarships, to more people.

The legislation seeks to raise spending on the state’s voucher program by hundreds of millions of dollars in just two years and to well more than $500 million in total by the end of the decade. It would also make all families eligible for at least some funding, ranging from more than $3,400 for the highest-income families to more than $7,400 for the lowest-income families, toward private school tuition. Priority for the money set aside would first go to the lowest-income families, then to all other families.

That means thousands more North Carolina children could end up attending a private school, instead of a public school, if they choose to, and thousands of current private school students could suddenly receive a scholarship to offset some, or all, of the tuition.

“For many families, the tuition might have been prohibitive in the past, but once a voucher comes available, then they are ready to make that change,” said Anna Egalite, an associate professor at North Carolina State University’s Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development. She said studies show students who receive vouchers to attend private schools are more likely to graduate high school and attend college.

The impact of the legislation on public school students is less clear. Public schools would receive less money for every student who unenrolls, and schools would have to adjust accordingly.

The voucher program's proposed expansion would mean more taxpayer dollars would flow into private schools – of which about two-thirds have religious affiliations.

The program has ballooned in the last decade as there’s been a big boost in voucher funding from the General Assembly, all while gradually expanding eligibility to include higher-income families.

The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority data show that – in the 2014-15 school year – about 1,200 students were receiving $4.6 million in state funding for these scholarships.

Now, more than $133 million has been disbursed to more than 25,000 students.

Four of the schools receiving the most money are in our backyard.

Grace Christian School in Sanford tops the list – receiving nearly $2.3 million dollars in state funding for 371 students – which, according to their website, is almost half of their student population.

The head of the school declined an interview but issued a written statement that said, in part, “Each student possesses different needs, academic tracks, learning services and priorities for their education. The Opportunity Scholarship has made available to families, who, without it, could not afford to send their child to the school that best meets their needs.”

Lee is calling the voucher system changes a foray into “backpack funding.” It’s “backpack funding,” as Lee describes it, in that public funding is follow each taxpayer’s child where they go to school. Currently, no taxpayer money follows private school students whose families have incomes above a certain amount, though tax dollars leave the public schools each time a student unenrolls.

Lee and Cotham have said the voucher program gives families more of a choice in where their children go to school.

Opponents of voucher program expansion have said it takes financial focus and dollars away from public schools that need more resources and noted that private schools don’t have to accept every student, unlike public schools.

A private school voucher, under North Carolina law, is financial assistance for a child to attend a private school. Currently, families must pick a private school their child has been accepted into, apply for the voucher, meet income qualifications ($89,841.50 annual income for a family of four this year), and then enroll their child once they are approved for the voucher.

The voucher comes from the state in the form of a check that’s written to a private school, once the student enrolls. For this year, the maximum voucher amount is $6,168 for the school year.

Private schools must agree to participate in the program, and the rules for which schools can and cannot participate are fairly loose. More than 500 schools participate, out of more than 800 private schools in North Carolina. The schools don’t need to take the same state standardized tests, and they don’t have to be accredited, unlike in many other states.

Users of vouchers in North Carolina and beyond are typically lower-income families, Egalite said. The university will study how that changes in the future under a new study agreement with the state for North Carolina’s voucher program, as it potentially expands to include more income levels.

“It tends to be disadvantaged families primarily that participate in programs like this, where they're struggling in their existing school and they're looking for another option,” Egalite said.

Eligibility for the scholarships has gradually expanded to include more middle-income families.

So for this school year, a family of four was eligible for a voucher if they earned $89,841.50 annually. That’s the highest eligible income for a family of four since the program began.

It’s also come with a big increase in funding for the vouchers from the General Assembly.

This school year, 25,524 private school students are using $133.3 million in vouchers to attend 544 private schools across North Carolina.

That’s a 25.3% increase in students from the year before (20,377 students) and a 67.7% increase in voucher funding ($79.5 million). It’s just an 8.2% increase in the number of schools they’re attending, from 503 schools.

Most private schools are receiving some voucher money.

During the 2021-22 school year, the state recorded 828 private schools, enrolling 115,311 students, according to data from the state Division of Nonpublic Education.

About two-thirds of the state’s private schools are religious, and about two-thirds of the state’s private school students attend them.

Some other private schools specialize in educating children with certain types of disabilities, though many families who attend them are often eligible for different types of vouchers intended only for students with disabilities.

Most North Carolina private schools participating in the voucher program receive at least $100,000 in voucher money. Of those, 17 receive at least $1 million in vouchers, and seven of them are in WRAL News’ viewing area. Five are in Fayetteville, one is in Sanford and another is in Goldsboro.

Average voucher funding per school topped $250,000 this year.

Grace Christian School in Sanford receives the most in voucher money: $2.3 million for 371 students this year. That’s a sizeable proportion (41.7%) of its overall enrollment; the school enrolled 890 students this fall. The school’s tuition tops $8,000 per year.

In being a private school, it can use discretion in determining who it accepts as students. On its website, the school states it opposes same-sex marriages.

WRAL News requested an interview with the school about the voucher program, but the school declined.

The school released a statement to WRAL News, noting its acceptance of students of differing abilities and its “environment free from unnecessary social and political distractions.”

The school emphasized the “freedom” it has to educate how it chooses to several times as an asset in comparison with a public school system that must adhere to broad laws.

“We are grateful that we are able to meet the needs of the individual student and facilitate education in a positive and loving environment, without the unnecessary restrictions to force students and teachers into a system that is contrary to their needs, wants and values,” the school’s statement reads. “At Grace, we do not have a system; we have a school – a school committed to meeting students where they are individually and helping them to develop their own set of God-given unique gifts and talents.”

One study in Florida showed academic outcomes were better for public school students after the state’s voucher program expanded, Egalite said, and other studies in New York and Ohio have shown positive outcomes for the voucher recipients. She did note a study in Louisiana showed negative academic outcomes for the private school students who participated in the state’s voucher program, though researchers weren’t sure why. They said it was possible private school curriculum was not aligned with the tests the students are taking.

How successful North Carolina’s voucher recipients are is difficult to study. The private schools here don’t take the same tests as North Carolina’s public schools.

But Egalite and colleagues found some positive outcomes when private school students were given a new test that could be compared with public school students.