Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has signed legislation to expand the Education Freedom Scholarship Program (EFS), making scholarships available for 35,000 students in the 2026-27 school year. The voucher program covers private school tuition for K-12 students. For the 2026-27 school year, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) received applications from more than 56,000 families. All 35,000 available scholarships are currently reserved and awaiting acceptance. Of those, 81% of new scholarships were awarded to applicants who meet income eligibility requirements or qualify through the Individualized Education Account (IEA) and Education Savings Account (ESA)