Families approved for CHOOSE Act now have access to Alabama’s newest school choice funds

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Families approved for Alabama’s new CHOOSE Act funding can now put that money to use.

CHOOSE stands for Creating Hope & Opportunity for Our Students’ Education. It provides state funds through education savings accounts for eligible families to pay for private school tuition, tutoring, home schooling, educational therapies or transfer fees to move to another public school.

It will give up to $7,000 per eligible student enrolled in a participating school, and $2,000 per participating student enrolled in a home education program with a maximum of $4,000 per family.

More than 36,000 students applied this year; more than 23,000 of them were approved. In this initial year, the first 500 ESAs were awarded to participating students with special needs, second priority was given to students who are dependents of active-duty service members enrolled in or assigned to a priority school.

The remaining were awarded based on each family’s adjusted gross income. As of Tuesday, those families can now use that money for their children’s education expenses.

Applications for the 2026-2027 school year open in January. The CHOOSE Act’s website explains eligibility information, has an online application, FAQs, important deadlines, and guides for parents and education service providers.

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