When the Texas Comptroller released its first demographic report on Education Freedom Accounts, one Central Texas number jumped out. Families living in Austin ISD held 1,020 funded accounts as of July 29, 2026. Only twelve districts in the state had more. But the Austin story is bigger than one district, because the suburbs around it, taken together, used the program even more heavily. Here's what the year-one data shows for the five counties we cover, and what it means for a family thinking about 2027-28.
The district-by-district picture
The report counts funded students by the district a parent listed as home. In our area, the order looks like this:
- Austin ISD: 1,020
- Leander ISD: 574
- Round Rock ISD: 544
- Hays CISD: 441
- Georgetown ISD: 432
- Pflugerville ISD: 329
- Hutto ISD: 214
- Liberty Hill ISD: 202
- Bastrop ISD: 188
- Lake Travis ISD: 171
Manor, San Marcos, Jarrell, Dripping Springs, Taylor and Del Valle each landed between 100 and 170. Districts with fewer than 30 funded students aren't named in the report, which is why a few small Williamson and Caldwell County districts don't appear at all. The Region 13 education service center area, which takes in Austin and a wider ring of Central Texas counties, counted 6,027 funded students in total. You can see every local district, with its count and IEP amounts, on our district table.
Williamson County outpaced the city
Add up the main Williamson County districts (Leander, Round Rock, Georgetown, Hutto, Liberty Hill, Jarrell and Taylor) and you get more than 2,200 funded students, more than double Austin ISD's count. Part of that is growth: new subdivisions keep filling these districts, and many families moving in are comparing schools for the first time. Part of it is supply: the US 183A and I-35 corridors now hold Catholic, Lutheran, classical and Acton-model schools that are all in the state finder. Our Williamson County guide walks through them city by city.
Applied is not the same as funded
Inside Austin ISD's boundaries, City Cast Austin reported in late July that 4,896 students had applied and 1,334 had been awarded accounts. The gap between that 1,334 and the report's 1,020 isn't a contradiction. The two figures were taken at different moments and count different things: awards offered by the program at that point, versus funded accounts tied to a parent-reported district on July 29.
Some awards also went unused. Community Impact reported in September that more than 1,000 Austin-area families who were accepted didn't go on to participate. In Leander ISD, 215 of the 574 accepted families opted out. City Cast noted that families who were selected had until July 15 to choose a school, and that funds from those who missed it went back to the waitlist.
The lesson for next year is practical. An award is only useful if you have a seat at a participating school lined up before the deadline. Apply to schools at the same time you apply to TEFA, not after.
Who used the accounts
Statewide, about 70% of awarded students had already been enrolled in private school in 2024-25, and more than half came from households at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, according to Comptroller figures cited by Community Impact. City Cast reported that about 30% of awarded students within Austin ISD's boundaries had been enrolled in public school the year before.
That matters for how the public debate plays out. Austin ISD ended 2025-26 with 69,382 students and budgeted for 68,188 this year, City Cast reported, alongside $205 million in cuts. The district's spokesperson told City Cast that planning for a possible enrollment decline was the only fiscally responsible approach. Those pressures will be part of the conversation when the Legislature meets.
What the account pays, and where it goes further
For 2026-27, a student at a participating school is funded at $10,474. The state deposits a quarter of it on July 1, another quarter on October 1, and the remaining half on February 1. Tuition at many Austin parish K-8 schools and smaller church schools sits close to that figure, so the account can cover most or all of it. At K-12 Christian schools and college-prep campuses, tuition often runs higher. Brentwood Christian School in North Austin, for example, told Community Impact its tuition starts at $12,510, and that more than 200 of its nearly 700 students were in the program.
Two things can raise what a family receives. A child with a current IEP on file with TEA gets a district add-on: an Austin ISD student whose IEP calls for a mainstream setting totals $16,779 at a participating school, and a Leander ISD student $17,066. And money a family doesn't spend stays in the account while the child remains in the program, which helps later when high school tuition climbs. Our calculator runs the numbers for any district and tuition.
How many schools take it
City Cast counted more than 200 Austin-area private schools approved to accept TEFA. When we pulled the state finder on October 11 for Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties, 117 K-12 schools and 123 pre-K providers were listed. Some well-known campuses weren't, so check before you assume. Every school in our directory shows whether it was in the finder on our check date.
What to do before 2027-28
The Comptroller hasn't set second-year dates. The 90th Legislature convenes on January 12, 2027 and will decide how much money the program has. Here's what we'd do now:
- Join the state's interest list at educationfreedom.texas.gov.
- If one of your children was funded and another wasn't, note that siblings of current participants are placed first in year two.
- Tour two or three schools and ask whether they'll take TEFA in 2027-28 and how they bill the three deposits.
- If your child might need an IEP, request a district evaluation now so it's on file in time.
- Keep your federal tax return handy for income verification.
If you'd like help putting the pieces together, our two-minute funding check is the place to start.