What EFS means for schools

Tennessee’s Education Freedom Scholarship (EFS) is a statewide program for K–12 students that places a set amount of state education funding—about $7,295 per student for the current cycle—into an account that can be used only for approved education costs. Payments go to schools in quarterly installments, and tuition and mandatory fees are paid first from each student’s account. Only after those bills are covered can remaining funds be used for items such as curriculum, tutoring, certain therapies, technology, and transportation from approved providers. Students may use EFS only if they attend a participating non-public school that is classified as Category I, II, or III under Tennessee’s non-public school rules.

For superintendents, principals, and board members, this means EFS is both a potential revenue stream and an operational commitment that touches enrollment, finance, and compliance.

The two gates for school participation

For schools, EFS participation is not automatic. State guidance explains that schools must do two things to receive scholarship funds:

Appear in the Tennessee Department of Education’s Non-Public Schools Directory as an approved Category I, II, or III school.
Register with the Tennessee Department of Education as a participating EFS school.

Being listed in the directory is necessary but not enough on its own. Schools must also complete the separate EFS registration step through TDOE before they can accept EFS dollars.

Category I, II, and III routes

Tennessee organizes non-public schools into five categories based on how they are approved or accredited, and only Category I, II, and III schools are eligible to participate in EFS.

Category I schools are approved directly by the Commissioner of Education and must follow state requirements for operations, curriculum, safety, and reporting. Once approved, they are listed in the Non-Public Schools Directory as Category I, and leaders can then work with the department on EFS registration.
Category II schools are private schools accredited by an agency whose standards have been approved by the State Board of Education.
Category III schools are private schools that hold regional accreditation from organizations named in Tennessee rules.

Accrediting agencies share their approved-school lists with TDOE, and the department uses that information to update the Non-Public Schools Directory. School leaders should confirm that their school appears in the directory with the correct category before starting the EFS registration process.

Checking your school’s current status

As a first step, leaders can review how the state currently lists their school. The Non-Public Schools page on TDOE’s website provides an Approved List of Non-Public Schools that shows each school’s name, approval status, and category.

School leaders should:

Confirm that the school appears on the list.
Verify that it is labeled Category I, II, or III.
Make sure the status is “approved.”

If a school is missing, misclassified, or if there are questions about its listing, TDOE directs inquiries to

Private.Schools@tn.gov, the main contact for non-public school approval and directory corrections.

Timelines that matter for schools

Families see EFS dates as application deadlines, but schools should treat them as anchors for planning enrollment and cash flow. For the 2026–27 school year, the state has announced the following dates:

December 9, 2025, at 12 p.m. CT: Renewal applications open for current EFS students.
January 13, 2026, at 12 p.m. CT: New applications open for first-time applicants.
January 30, 2026, at 4 p.m. CT: Final deadline for all applications.

Scholarship awards are made in the order that completed applications are received, so families who apply early with all required documents have a better chance of receiving funding.

Projected disbursement dates for current accounts during that same period are:

Quarter 3: January 15, 2026.
Quarter 4: March 15, 2026.

Each year’s EFS calendar and Family Handbook also set an enrollment-confirmation deadline. By that date, schools must confirm in the state portal that accepted students are enrolled, or funding for those students may not be released.

Operational duties

Participating in EFS adds ongoing tasks that school boards should understand before opting in. Students who use EFS must take an annual test in certain grades. Families can choose either the TCAP (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program) test in math and reading or a state-approved national test. Schools are responsible for administering these assessments and sending the results to the Tennessee Department of Education in the required format, usually as group or de-identified data.

In addition to testing, staff members must handle routine tasks such as confirming enrollment in the state portal, tracking deadlines, and responding to questions from families who are new to the program or unsure about state requirements.

Financial compliance

EFS rules specify how scholarship funds must be used. The money in each student’s account must be applied first to tuition and mandatory fees at the participating non-public school. Only after those costs are covered can remaining funds be used for approved items.

Allowed expenses include certain educational costs such as curriculum and textbooks, tutoring from approved providers, some transportation to and from school, qualifying therapies, and specific technology or learning devices listed in state guidance. The program does not permit spending EFS funds on regular school supplies, most field trips, food, transportation provided by family members, or babysitting and childcare that are not primarily educational.

When a student withdraws, returns to public school, moves out of Tennessee, or becomes ineligible, the account is closed and any remaining funds revert to the state. Unsanctioned use of funds or failure to follow program rules can also result in removal from EFS and closure of the account.

Schools need to plan for mid-year departures, waitlist movement, and year-to-year shifts in EFS enrollment, all of which can affect tuition revenue and staffing decisions.

Questions for boards and leaders

Because EFS affects governance, finances, staffing, and family expectations, participation should be treated as a strategic decision rather than a routine administrative choice. Boards and leaders may want to ask:

How would changes in EFS enrollment and scholarship amount affect things?
Who will manage the day-to-day work: answering family questions, confirming enrollment in the state portal, tracking deadlines, and overseeing testing and reporting requirements?
Do we have enough staff capacity to meet EFS reporting obligations, including assessment data submissions and timely enrollment verification?
How will we handle the extra communication load tied to new state timelines, billing expectations, and application problems that families may bring to the front office?

The steepest part of EFS for administrators is the added workload: explaining requirements to families who are new to the program, fixing incomplete applications that delay or block funding, and monitoring multiple state dates that determine when tuition is paid. Boards should be candid about the bandwidth they currently have—and what they may need to add—before deciding whether to participate in Tennessee’s Education Freedom Scholarship program.