More Than 42,000 Apply for Tennessee’s Education Freedom Scholarships

A total of 42,827 applications have been received for Tennessee’s new Education Freedom Scholarship program, with 21,664 classified as universal and 21,163 as qualified. Applications by grade level range from 3,739 in kindergarten through 2,408 in twelfth grade. A total of 239 schools have registered to participate, including 20 Category I, 38 Category II, and 181 Category III schools. By county, the highest numbers of applications came from Shelby (8,432), Knox (5,189), Hamilton (4,710), and Davidson (4,039), along with notable totals in Rutherford (2,302), Williamson (1,973), Sumner (1,499), Madison (1,482), Montgomery (1,278), and Wilson (1,282). In local counties, Maury and Lawrence counties each have two schools registered for the program, with 1,110 applications in Maury and 108 in Lawrence. Giles (37 applications), Marshall (69), Lewis (20), and Wayne (5) counties have submitted applications, though no participating schools are listed for these counties.