Arkansas Advocate: Applications show gaps between Arkansas vouchers and private school tuition rates 

 Students study on laptops inside a Farmington elementary school on March 19, 2026. | Arkansas Advocate photo by Antoinette Grajeda

By ANTOINETTE GRAJEDA | Arkansas Advocate

Families seeking educational services for children with disabilities face challenges accessing specialized therapies and equipment, but how to pay for them can pose an even greater hurdle.

Arrows Academy in northeast Arkansas helps families access those needed services by adjusting tuition so the majority is covered by the state’s school voucher program, Chief Operations Officer April Hough said. 

But in Paragould where nearly one in five residents live in poverty, Hough estimates many families couldn’t afford a $25 monthly payment to cover remaining costs.

“We really do have a niche clientele and some of them just don’t have the funds and we know that…it’s never been about the money,” she said. “It’s been about the kids.”

Arrows Academy, a private school focused on K-12 students with disabilities and special needs, serves around 30 children. The academy grew out of a therapy business that has clinics in Paragould, Batesville and Little Rock, after clients said their current schools weren’t able to address their children’s special needs. 

Hough hopes to establish a scholarship fund to help some Arrows Academy families better afford their specialized education, which would in turn help the school.

“It would give us that operational cushion that we need because right now we’re just bare minimum. We’re making it, but barely,” she said.

Annual tuition rates at more than half of the schools that applied for next year’s voucher program exceed the $7,208 the state will provide, according to an analysis of 170 application packets the Arkansas Advocate obtained through a public records request. This leaves a financial gap some schools are working to close in a state with one of the nation’s highest poverty rates.

Created through a wide-ranging 2023 education law, the Educational Freedom Account program provides state funding for certain expenses, such as private school tuition. The program was phased in over three years with increasing eligibility and opened to all Arkansas students last year.

Nearly 57,000 students applied for the upcoming academic year, according to Arkansas Department of Education spokesperson Kaelin Clay. As of Friday, 51,041 applications had been approved — 28,096 private school students and 22,945 homeschool students.

The application portal closed June 1, but families may apply through Jan. 31, 2027, if they are new to the state, have new foster care placements, are moving on military or state-employed law enforcement orders, or are moving from a part of the state without a participating school to an area with one, according to recently approved program rules. Reopening applications for these families is contingent on participation numbers and available funding. 

Last year, 44,557 students received funding and enrolled at 160 of the 167 schools approved to participate in the program, Clay said.

Arkansas is one of 18 states that has programs that make virtually all students eligible for state funding for private school tuition or homeschool education, according to Education Week. 

In states with universal access, private school enrollment has increased 3-4% and vouchers have likely increased private school tuition by 5-10%, according to a National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice report. 

Covering costs

Tuition for Arrows Academy high school students is $7,535, about $300 more than is covered by state funding. Meanwhile in Bentonville, where the poverty rate is 5%, tuition for 9th-12th graders at Thaden School is $30,100.

Thaden, an independent school, has the highest full-priced tuition among voucher program applicants. But it has always offered indexed tuition that allows families to pay what they can afford based on their income. 

Two-thirds of Thaden’s nearly 400 students pay indexed tuition, which makes the school’s education accessible to people across all income groups, Head of School Michael Maloy said. 

“We want lots of different points of view, lots of different backgrounds, lots of different experiences represented because actually that kind of diversity of thought and diversity of experience is [a] really important part of a strong education,” Maloy said.  

Tuition at the school, which expands to kindergarten through 12th grade this fall, helps cover the cost of bus service, two daily meals and instructional materials. Philanthropic funds generated from fundraising events, individuals, corporations and foundations help support indexed tuition, he said.

Even with families paying the highest tuition level, it still doesn’t fully cover the cost per student, especially because Thaden has such a wide range of tuition being paid, Marketing and Communications Director Sam Bertoncino said. 

“So fundraising is a very, very important part of what we do to continue to be able to provide the level of education that we do,” Bertoncino said. 

Arkansas private schools have long offered scholarships and discounts for siblings and church members to make their education affordable. Supporters say the voucher program also helps with affordability, allowing parents to choose schools that best fit their children’s needs. 

Critics, however, are wary of the voucher program’s growing cost. Lawmakers in April approved $309 million for the program and set aside an additional $70 million in surplus funds for anticipated growth. 

Opponents have also argued it harms public schools, but Hough said that’s not the goal of the program, which has helped her students. 

“My school isn’t looking to take money away from the public schools,” she said. “We’re just looking to serve families who the public school doesn’t work for.”

By the numbers

The education department received applications from 176 private schools for next year’s program. Two have been denied, 164 have been approved and 10 are still under review or need to submit additional documentation, Clay said Friday.

The Advocate received 170 applications from the department, which didn’t respond to a question about the discrepancy by deadline. It’s unclear how many of those applications include ones that are pending or have been denied.

A direct comparison of tuition rates can be difficult to make because some institutions have all-inclusive tuition, while others charge additional fees. Among the applications reviewed by the Advocate, Hot Springs Adventist School offers the cheapest tuition for in-person instruction at $3,000 annually, but that doesn’t include a $300 annual registration fee. 

Northgate Academy has the cheapest tuition for online education, according to a February letter that projected its High School Silver tier will cost $2,050 to $2,100 next year. The letter also discussed the anticipated introduction of an advanced tuition tier that could cost $8,000 to $10,000 annually. 

There are 14 virtual school applicants for next year, though some are owned by the same entity. Northgate Academy, a Christian high school, and Excel High School are both part of Minnesota-based Excel Education Systems.  

The American Academy, whose corporate offices are in Utah, applied for a K-8th school and a high school tied to the same Little Rock address. The majority of the virtual school applicants have connections to other states, including Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia. 

Voucher program funds used for tuition must be applied to Arkansas schools, but there are exceptions for out-of-state online institutions if they have an Arkansas resident as its registered agent and schools that were previously approved for the Succeed Scholarship program.  

The Succeed Scholarship, which was created by lawmakers in 2015 and absorbed into the voucher program in 2023, provided private school tuition for students with disabilities, foster children and military families. Former scholarship recipients receive more funding than regular voucher program students. The 445 former Succeed students participating in the EFA program next year are eligible to receive up to $8,162, Clay said.

The Madonna Learning Center in Germantown, Tennessee has continued serving a former Succeed Scholarship recipient, but will be ineligible for the voucher program once the student graduates. The education department did not respond to a question about when that graduation date will be.

Tuition rates and annual increases vary widely across voucher program applicants. The average tuition is about $9,800, roughly $2,600 more than next year’s state funding. While 30 schools kept all tuition levels flat compared to last year, others increased their rates by around $600 on average. 

Though there is not a set percentage increase that automatically requires rejection, the education department’s Division of Secondary Education reviews tuition within context, particularly when a significant increase is reported, Clay said. 

Schools may be asked to provide additional information explaining the increase, including the cost of educating a student, factors driving the change and how the tuition structure supports the school’s ability to serve families in the community, she said. The division also looks at the total cost being charged to families in the area to better understand the potential financial impact, Clay said. 

“In the cases DESE has reviewed, most schools have been responsive to feedback and, when necessary, have made adjustments in an effort to serve the greatest number of mission-aligned families in their community,” she said.

Riverview Baptist Christian School in Morrilton nearly doubled its tuition to $6,552 because it integrated fees into its tuition cost, which principal Josh Young said was more efficient in a letter to the education department. 

Last year’s $3,300 tuition rate was insufficient for operational costs at the K-12 school, which relied on fundraising efforts to cover general expenses, building maintenance and teacher salaries, Young said. 

“Our staff pay is way less than the average public school teacher’s salary, and we hope to provide better teacher pay with this increase, as well as acquire new technology, books, and classroom equipment,” he wrote.

Upgrading facilities and increasing teacher compensation were common themes among schools increasing tuition, including New Horizon Academy in Ward. The private Christian school said its $1,500 tuition increase would support the addition of three high school teachers since transitioning away from virtual instruction.

A first-year teacher’s salary is expected to be $25,000 this fall, according to New Horizon’s application. That’s half the minimum teacher salary for public school teachers.

Though it may be a constant struggle for smaller schools like Arrows Academy to balance budgets while providing needed services, Hough said the focus will always remain on students. 

“These kids aren’t going to know that this is really hard for us to do,” she said. “We’re going to make sure that they have that opportunity and experience. If it’s within reach, we’re going to figure out how to make it happen.”

Data was collected from Educational Freedom Account program applications provided by the Arkansas Department of Education through a state Freedom of Information Act request. 

Schools generally provided tuition rates for the 2026-2027 and 2025-2026 academic years. Missing documentation is noted in the tuition chart. If 2025-2026 tuition could not be found in this year’s application, last year’s application was referenced, when possible. 

Some schools include all fees in their listed tuition price, while others list separate fees to be paid in addition to the tuition rate. The tuition rates in this analysis do not reflect discounts for things like being a church member or enrolling more than one child. Schools that charged tuition by the week or by the course were not included in the analysis of annual tuition rates. 

Tuition rates are also reflective of what was submitted to the education department at the time of application. The application period for schools opened in February and closed on June 1. Applications for students also closed June 1, but applications may be reopened until Jan. 31, 2027 for students who meet certain qualifications, such as moving to Arkansas from another state.