Tennessee education department outlines rollout for new Education Freedom Scholarship program, committee approves contract amendment

Tennessee Fiscal Review Committee members on the committee approved an amendment to the Department of Education's contract with Student First Technologies to add the new Education Freedom Scholarship (EFS) program and expand the vendor's services for implementation.

The amendment, presented by Emily Cornude, director of legislative affairs for the Department of Education, and Trudy Hughes, assistant commissioner for Choice, will allow the department to use the department's current Student First platform for intake and related administrative functions as the state prepares to roll out the EFS program required by the public act that created the program.

Why it matters: The EFS program, established by chapter 7 of the public acts of the first extraordinary session of 2025, will allow Tennessee families to use state education funds for certain private school tuition and fees beginning in the 2025–26 school year. Department officials said moving the Student First contract now is necessary so platform functions are in place before applications open.

Department officials told the committee they expect to launch the EFS application “late spring” and that they are continually updating the department website with school responses about participation. Assistant Commissioner Trudy Hughes said, “We will review applications as they are submitted. It is a first come, first serve.”

Officials gave additional details about eligibility and documentation. For the program’s first year, department staff said there will be 20,000 scholarships in two buckets: an initial 10,000 “universal” scholarships available to any Tennessee student entitled to attend a K–12 public school who is a Tennessee resident and a U.S. citizen or lawfully present; and a second bucket of 10,000 awards that carry income or other eligibility criteria. For the income-based bucket, department staff said applicants may qualify if household income falls within 300% above the federal free-and-reduced-price-lunch threshold and that families may demonstrate eligibility by submitting a 2024 tax return or proof of benefits such as TANF or SNAP.

Representative Hicks sought clarification after an earlier misstatement about the threshold; department staff corrected the record on the 300% figure during the committee exchange.

Committee members also asked about the procurement and future competitive sourcing. Emily Cornude told the committee the department intends to issue a competitive request for proposals this summer for the expanded services created by adding EFS to the platform.

What the committee did: The committee voted to approve the contract amendment. The clerk called the roll and the chair announced, “Ayes have it.”

Context and next steps: Department officials said they have contacted all registered category 1–3 private schools in Tennessee to gather intent data for program participation and will update the department’s website with new information as it becomes available. Officials reiterated that initial application processing will proceed as applications arrive and that scholarship awards will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis until the program caps for the year are reached.

The committee approved the amendment as presented; department staff will proceed with implementation steps and the planned competitive procurement for expanded services later in the year.