Tennessee governor wants more than 20,000 private school scholarships after demand far exceeds supply

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says he will ask lawmakers to expand the state’s new private school scholarship program next year.

Lee told reporters in Nashville on Friday that he wants more than the 20,000 scholarships available in the program’s first year.

“The only thing I’m not happy with is that we don’t have more scholarships to give to more income-limited, low-income families and to families that aren’t limited in their income,” Lee told the Tennessean. 

The Education Freedom Scholarship program launched this year with $144 million in state funding. It provided 20,000 grants worth $7,295 each to K-12 students statewide, regardless of previous schools or ZIP codes. 

Lawmakers set aside half of the scholarships without regard to family income. Aside from Tennessee residency and legal citizenship, the state imposed no other qualifications. 

Demand exceeded supply as families submitted more than 42,000 applications. 

“So many Tennesseans wanted this,” Lee said. “I’m hoping that we’ll be able to get the General Assembly to provide more scholarships to more Tennessee families.” 

New county-by-county data from the Tennessee Department of Education show where the awards are going. 

More than half of the scholarships – 10,802 – went to students in the state’s four most populous counties: Shelby, Davidson, Knox and Hamilton. Just over 82% of the scholarships, or 16,416 total, went to students living in metro and suburban areas around Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, Franklin and Jackson. 

State officials say the program has already reached most of Tennessee. 

“They’re awarded to students in the vast majority of counties all over the state. It’s very widespread,” Lee said. 

He added the scholarships are “evenly divided between those that have income limits and those that don’t.” 

The first-year income cap for the need-based half of the program was $173,000 for a family of four. By law, the other 10,000 scholarships had no income limit, allowing families at any income level to qualify if they met other basic requirements. 

However, the department turned away more than 11,100 eligible applicants this summer who earned under $173,000 because funds ran out. 

Lee plans to include a funding increase for the program in his next budget proposal. 

The state has not yet released details on the size of the increase. Lawmakers will consider the request during the 2026 legislative session.