🚨 NEW: The University of Arkansas and the Arkansas Department of Education just released their latest report on Education Freedom Accounts, using data from the 2025–26 school year.
The takeaway: Arkansas’s EFA program is wildly successful. Parents love it, and kids are thriving.
A few highlights:
📈 44,524 Arkansas students used an EFA last year, the first year every K–12 student was eligible. The program is on track to serve more than 50,000 kids this year.
‼️ 95.8% ‼️ of EFA families stuck with the program from one year to the next. It's hard to overstate how important this figure is. Parents are extremely happy with this program.
♿ 16.3% of students in the EFA program have a disability. That’s a higher share than in Arkansas public schools (15.2%). So much for the talking point that “EFAs leave kids with disabilities behind.”
📝 EFA students are required to take a standardized test, and their results were stellar. EFA students beat the national average across the board, scoring at the 62nd percentile in math and the 66th percentile in reading.
🏠 Homeschoolers did even better: 71st percentile in math, 76th percentile in reading.
🗺️ EFA schools operate in 55 of Arkansas’s 75 counties, and nearly 70% of the state sits within 15 miles of a city with a participating school. Education freedom is serving students all across the state, including in very rural areas.
💰 EFA funding was about 8.1% of total state education funding, while serving 8.7% of students. This program is a bargain for taxpayers.
💵 Students switching from public schools to EFAs will save around $60 million in public school funding. And that number would be closer to $90 million, except the state pays public schools extra “declining enrollment” money when students leave.
✅ Every dollar went to approved educational expenses. Zero fraud. This is easily the most accountable government program in state history.
😊 Parents are happy. 87% said the application was easy. 90% said the eligibility rules were clear. And 95.8% came back for another year.
Top 3 reasons parents chose an EFA:
1️⃣ Better academics (81%)
2️⃣ Religious instruction (49%)
3️⃣ A safer school (44%)
The bottom line:
EFAs are working.
Parents love education freedom.
Students are thriving.
Taxpayers are getting a bargain.
Arkansas got this right. Now let’s keep it going! 🇺🇸
And thanks to
@ua_edreform,
@mistygallo2,
@jbmcgee,
@FlowTap1 for your diligent work on this important report!