by Matthew Holloway | Oct 8, 2025 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
A new report on Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) from the Common Sense Institute (CSI) shows a robust jump in ESA enrollment of nearly 15,000 students since last year.
According to the detailed report, the school choice program has reached a milestone with 92,362 students enrolled as of September 15, 2025. Projections indicate that ESA numbers will reach 103,000 this fiscal year.
The report from CSI is released on a quarterly basis to address “a lack of reliable and consistent data about who is using the program and how.” CSI noted, “Applying scrutiny to hundreds of thousands of individual transactions on an almost real-time basis has made the program vulnerable to exaggeration, misinformation, and mischaracterization. No comparable program is subject to this kind of examination.”
The quarterly findings indicate the program is maturing from an initial stage of rapid growth to a more steady-state. Universal eligibility, rolled out in 2022, has fueled the fire, but the real story now is “switchers”—57% of new enrollees ditching public schools for tailored options like private academies, therapies, or homeschooling setups. The report underscores how shrinking school-age cohorts (down 20,241 since 2021) aren’t slowing the momentum.
Glenn Farley, Director of Policy & Research at CSI and the report’s author, explained, “Arizona’s ESA program is reaching a point of steady participation. The rapid expansion is behind us, and future growth will be shaped more by broader demographic trends and the choices families make across an increasingly competitive K–12 landscape.”
The key questions that CSI seeks to address include the ultimate cost of the program at full expansion, the steady-state count of how many people are using the ESA program, its ultimate extent, the demographic characteristics of its users, and the efficiency and good operation of the program.
CSI found that total ESA costs are on track to reach $1.0369 billion in FY 2026, with an average award of $10,349 per student. Notably, 88% of funds have already been spent, the highest percentage ever recorded. Administrative approval rates are at a peak of 88.8%, and reimbursements are processed in just 13 days on average, with a whopping 455,142 orders handled in the last quarter alone.
As far as budgetary impact is concerned, a common complaint from opponents like Governor Katie Hobbs, the CSI projects that “state K–12 Basic State Aid costs will exceed appropriations by $35 million in FY 2026, due largely to higher ESA participation and lower-than-expected district enrollment.”
The report also offers a firm, authoritative rebuke to allegations that the program is most used by “the wealthy.”
“Nearly 57% of ESA recipients live in ZIP Codes with a median family income of between $75,000 and $150,000 – up slightly since our last report. A quarter of ESA users may be lower-income, 13% reside in rural areas, and nearly 20% are estimated to be nonwhite,” the report states.
Farley concluded the CSI report’s findings, writing, “Administrative reform throughout 2025 by the Department of Education has improved various high-level metrics: the Department is approving purchases faster and at greater volume and embracing its statutory authority (risk-based auditing, Handbook language noting use-tests for technology purchases and not limiting the purchases directly, etc.). However, the ESA environment often remains narrative rather than fact driven. We remind users: ESA enrollment costs are offset by reduced enrollment in other K-12 programs; ESA misuse rates are lower than comparable programs; ESA growth is slowing and increasingly driven by students switching from traditional public options.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Jun 23, 2025 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
A new report from the Common Sense Institute (CSI) Arizona has shed light on the growing trend of homeschooling and the associated costs nationwide, using Utah as an example and revealing both the financial burden and opportunities for families opting out of in-person public education. The in-depth study, released Wednesday, explores the economic and educational landscape of home-based learning, particularly in light of Utah’s innovative Utah Fits All (UFA) scholarship program, a similar but far more limited program than Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA).
According to the CSI report, nearly 30,000 Utah students applied for 10,000 UFA scholarships in 2024, with an estimated 80% of recipients using the funds for homeschooling. These $8,000-per-student scholarships have expanded access to educational resources, enabling families to afford formal programs, online classes, tutoring, and specialized instruction. Although a fraction of the Arizona ESA program’s more than 86,000 students, Utah’s UFA presents a reasonable sample size.
One Utah parent, homeschooling seven children, told CSI Arizona that the UFA scholarship allowed their youngest child to access structured online courses, a resource unavailable to their older siblings.
“Nearly all respondents who shared feedback cited UFA as enabling greater ‘access to opportunities,’” the report states, highlighting the program’s role in addressing parental demand for a greater diversity of educational options.
The report estimates homeschooling costs in Utah range widely, from $700 to $70,000 annually, depending on the services and resources families choose. Unlike traditional schools, homeschooling families are frequently left to absorb significant expenses, such as curriculum materials and facility costs, which are not covered by public funding outside of programs like UFA.
Homeschooling’s rise in Utah and Arizona both mirror national trends, with the report citing an increase to as much as 11% of U.S. students being homeschooled since 2020. In Utah, public school enrollment has declined by 0.3% since its 2021 peak, with district schools losing over 6,000 students between 2021 and 2024, largely driven by smaller kindergarten classes. A similar phenomenon was observed in Arizona by CSI. Meanwhile, charter school enrollment also grew by 1,500 students over the same period. The report seems to reinforce CSI’s earlier observations that dissatisfaction with traditional school environments or curricula is a key driver of homeschooling demand, predating the introduction of UFA and the Arizona ESA.
Despite Utah’s $10.2 billion investment in public education, only about $1 billion supports charter schools, and homeschooling families have historically relied heavily on personal funds to get by, putting added stress on families already suffering under inflation. The UFA program, launched in 2024, created a significant shift, offering financial relief and flexibility to homeschooling parents.
Programs such as UFA in Utah and ESA in Arizona are responding to growing parental demand for tailored learning experiences, and as homeschooling continues to expand, the study calls for greater transparency in tracking participation and costs to better tailor it and programs like it to the evolving needs of homeschooling students.
CSI Arizona concluded, “Over the past five years, the K-12 landscape in the United States has changed dramatically. Today, there are fewer kids in America’s traditional public schools than before the pandemic, and far more children are being homeschooled.
“At the same time, the nature and cost of homeschooling has changed as it has grown. Today’s homeschoolers often started out either enrolled in or considering the traditional school system, and are looking for a rigorous educational experience that includes diverse and formalized coursework, curriculum, and standards. Providing that is costly – comparable in costs to other traditional schools, or even more expensive per-pupil once all costs (direct and hidden) are accounted for.”
CSI added that state policymakers “should carefully consider the consequences of policies that continue treating students differently based on where they go to school – especially if those differences are based on assumptions that underestimate the cost of non-traditional options.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Daniel Stefanski | Dec 17, 2024 | Education, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Amid an increased flurry of attacks on Arizona’s school choice opportunities, a prominent organization is countering with the facts.
Citizens For Free Enterprise responded to another derogatory statement about Arizona’s historic Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) azprogram from the state’s Democrat Governor, Katie Hobbs. Earlier this week, Hobbs posted, “ESAs are rife with waste, fraud and abuse, and this will only make it worse. This empowers bad actors who are spending taxpayer dollars on ski passes, luxury car driving lessons, and grand pianos. We need accountability and transparency for this almost billion dollar program.”
Hobbs was reacting to a recent news story about the Arizona Department of Education’s new policy to automatically approve a vast majority of outstanding reimbursement requests from parents in the program, which was announced by Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne, at a Board of Education meeting.
The response from Citizens For Free Enterprise stated, “FACT CHECK: Arizona’s universal school choice program is a model of accountability, transparency, and security, according to CSI Institute Arizona. The over 83,000 Arizona families using ESAs just want the best for their children – and Katie Hobbs should stop attacking them.”
Others weighed in on the governor’s attack ahead of the 57th State Legislature, starting in January. State Representative Travis Grantham said, “I wish Democrats cared this much about government waste across the board. Why do they only care about it when it’s privatized and / or it gives the citizenry more choices?”
Fellow legislator Austin Smith added, “Not only was Katie Hobbs education agenda rejected; she lost seats in the house and senate. Bold move Cotton, let’s see if it pays off.”
Not everyone was opposed to Hobbs’ statement. Democrat State Representative Oscar De Los Santos replied, “From forging documents to scam taxpayers to abusing funds for luxury items, the private school voucher program is filled with waste, fraud, and abuse. Every Arizonan should be outraged. The DOGE committees should take a look at this disaster.”
Matthew Ladner, a school choice advocate, weighed in on De Los Santos’ statements, saying, “The waste, fraud and abuse in the ESA program is a small fraction of programs you support. If you’d like to eliminate all the programs with ESA level or higher abuse you will make Ron Paul a very happy man!”
In addition to its statement, Citizens For Free Enterprise shared a document of facts from the Common Sense Institute Arizona (CSI) to counter the myth that “ESA’s are subject to rampant fraud and abuse.” On that document, CSI highlighted that there was more than $2 billion of “Medicaid billing fraud in Arizona revealed by a single investigation into pandemic-era relaxed program standards,” and that “Arizona’s share of estimated pandemic-era fraudulent U.S. Unemployment Insurance payments” was $2.3 billion. On the flip side, according to CSI, “the sum-total of all specific, public allegations of ESA fraud …identified to-date, since universal eligibility expansion” was just around $650,000 – a far cry from the fraud in other state programs and handouts.
CSI concluded that “there are specific statutory requirements governing the use of ESA monies – including guidelines on permissible expenditures and a requirement that ADE conduct random and regular audits to ensure compliance. Within that framework, the program has been able to run well, especially compared to similar programs.”
While officials and organizations may have again successfully pushed back on Demcorats’ renewed, false detractions of the ESA program, Horne’s handling of this significant portion of the department he was entrusted to oversee continues to present major headaches for Republicans and school choice proponents. Since Horne’s first ESA Director, Christine Accurso, left the office last summer, he has been faced with a rising number of reimbursement requests and other issues that he has struggled to address with his team. Horne also capitulated to Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes earlier this year, when she challenged him about the lack of “curriculum” attached to certain requests, adding additional regulations for parents to comply with the attorney general’s threats. Horne’s backsliding here came after he had repeatedly stood up to Mayes and Hobbs’ saber-rattling against the school choice program.
Additionally, Horne recently blamed a number of external factors, including Arizona state legislators, for the skyrocketing number of unfulfilled reimbursement requests. In a November press conference, Horne noted a fix to the ESA program that allowed parents to bypass ClassWallet to obtain reimbursements, stating, “Somebody went to the Legislature last year and got them to pass a bill saying they could do it by reimbursement… We’ve asked the Legislature, in the future, ‘Please ask us before you pass something so we can tell you what the consequences will be.’”
While the program has continued to grow over the past two years, Arizona Education Department officials have failed to satisfactorily explain why the processes put in place by Accurso before her departure were unable to suffice for smooth management and processing of reimbursements and other factors of ESA program oversight and delivery going forward. Accurso was able to save the program from massive and glaring issues created by Horne’s Democrat predecessor, adding staff to her team and reducing the backlogs to almost nothing, while accounting for an exponential increase in students and families realizing the benefits of ESAs.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
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