RALEIGH, N.C. — New data suggests most of the North Carolina students who received new private school vouchers this school year were already attending private schools.

A report being presented Wednesday to the State Board of Education says only 6,710 of the 80,325 new Opportunity Scholarship students attended public schools last school year. This would indicate most of the remaining voucher students were either already attending private schools, attended private schools in other states or were newcomers to private schools.

According to the data, 5,955 scholarships awarded in the fall semester accounted for $34.4 million in taxpayer funded vouchers. If those students hadn’t left for private schools, the state would have awarded $44.5 million in public school funding. (The report doesn’t factor in the funding for 755 spring semester only scholarships.)

That’s a $10.1 million difference in state funds. In the 2023 state budget, state lawmakers said they planned to reinvest in public schools any savings in state funds caused from families leaving public schools by using the Opportunity Scholarship program.

Due to differences in how data was provided about voucher students, the state Department of Public Instruction said its figure of former public school students is a rough estimate.

Expanding income eligibility for a voucher

The state has been giving Opportunity Scholarships to help families cover private school costs since 2014. The program was initially promoted by Republican lawmakers as a way to help low-income families pay for private schools to escape low-performing public schools.

But over the past decade, the income eligibility rules were expanded to allow more people to get vouchers. This school year marked the first time that there were no income limits for receiving an Opportunity Scholarship.

The new eligibility rules fueled a record expansion in the program. The number of students currently receiving a voucher is more than double the total of 32,549 recipients last school year.

Affluent and existing private school families benefiting

Data presented to state lawmakers in March shows 42% of the Opportunity Scholarship students come from families who made too much money to have qualified for a voucher last school year.

The number of affluent families getting a voucher could rise even more for the 2025-26 school year. Data released in March by the N.C. State Education Assistance Authority shows that 42% of the 40,089 new applicants this year are wouldn’t have qualified for a voucher before.

A family of four making $259,750 or more a year would not have been eligible for a voucher before.

The new DPI report is also in line with results from other states showing that private school voucher expansion largely benefits existing private school families instead of families leaving public schools.

Private schools across the state have been encouraging their families to apply for vouchers.

Democratic lawmakers called voucher expansion “welfare for the wealthy.” But Republican lawmakers argued that the wealthiest families have the right to decide how their taxpayer dollars are used to educate their children.

The state is poised to spend $600 million on vouchers this year.

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