RALEIGH — Funding for the expansion of the Opportunity Scholarship program could be a topic for the General Assembly’s short session that begins on April 24.
The number of applicants for the Opportunity Scholarship program (OSP) that gives students grants to attend the private school of their choice is on track to outstrip current funding levels.
The North Carolina Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) indicated it received around 72,000 new applications this year. That’s six times the 12,000 who applied in 2023.
Last year’s OSP enrollment landed at just north of 32,000 students. If even half of those students renew, it could cut into awards for the tiers, resulting in tens of thousands of applicants ending up on a waitlist. Recent trends, however, indicate at least 80-90% of those current students will reenroll with an Opportunity Scholarship.
Per the NCSEAA’s data, 884 private schools were operating in North Carolina serving 126,768 students during the 2023-24 school year.
According to Senate Leader Phil Berger’s (R-Eden) office, that’s a good problem to solve.
“The surge in Opportunity Scholarship applications is the latest sign that North Carolina families value having choice in education,” Berger’s office said in a statement to North State Journal. “Just like any other budget item, legislators will discuss potential funding changes as they make budget revisions during the short session.”
The scholarships, ranging from $3,360 to $7,468 depending on certain criteria, were expanded during the past legislative session to include all families in North Carolina.
That expansion included $293.5 million in funding in the most recent state budget. Despite previously unused funds, the General Assembly has consistently increased funding for the program, and it is expected to reach more than $500 million annually by 2031.
The number of members in a household, overall household income, and eligibility level for free and reduced government lunch subsidies are some of the criteria used to determine tier levels.
The scholarship awards are issued through a four-tiered system and are prioritized with current recipients and applicants from lower-income families in Tier 1 getting an award first. Given the number of applicants, a lottery system may have to be implemented to determine distribution of additional awards for other tiers.
Of the 72,000 new applicants, Tier 1 (maximum scholarship amount of $7,468) had 13,680 applicants, Tier 2 (up to $6,722) had 18,720, Tier 3 (up to $4,480) had 26,640, and Tier 4 had 12,960 (up to $3,360).
The full eligibility guidelines can be found at ncseaa.edu.
Despite the increase in applicants, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper called for a moratorium on the program during a recent unannounced visit to the North Carolina State Board of Education.
Cooper called the program “unaccountable” and a “reckless, reckless waste of taxpayer money.”
The governor also claimed “most private schools are not better than public schools” and said the program could “divert $200 million” from public schools.
Even at increased funding levels, the OSP would be a very small portion of education spending in North Carolina.
In Fiscal Year 2021-22 the state allocated a total of $152.1 million for the OSP, Education Student Accounts Program and the Disabilities Grant. The state’s overall K-12 education spending that year, including state, federal and local funds, was more than $16.7 billion — meaning the three aforementioned programs accounted for just 0.9% of the total.
