Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account program now serves more than 100,000 students at an annualized cost of over $1.1 billion, according to a new report from the state Department of Education.
Enrollment peaked at 102,891 students in March and has grown nearly 90% since the legislature expanded access to every Arizona school-aged child. Growth has slowed to just over 4% per quarter after spiking at 58% in June 2023.
About one-third of ESA students come from ZIP codes with a median household income over $105,000 — higher than the one quarter of Arizona's minor population that actually lives in those ZIP codes. However, new enrollees this year from those high-income areas have dropped to 27%, much closer to the statewide share.
The highest ESA participation rates are in Colorado City, where nearly half of all children are enrolled, followed by areas in Surprise and Paradise Valley — the state's wealthiest ZIP code.
Just over half of ESA spending goes to private school tuition — $325 million so far this fiscal year — with the remainder split among tutoring, homeschooling materials, online learning, and other expenses.
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