TL;DR: Tennessee's Education Savings Account, open to income-qualifying students zoned to Metro Nashville, Memphis-Shelby and Hamilton County schools, more than doubled between 2023-24 and 2025-26, to 4,766 students at 110 schools. For 2026-27 it pays $10,132.54 to a full-year Metro Nashville student. The catch the program's numbers make plain: ESA students must take the state TCAP, and their scores trail.
How many students use Tennessee's ESA, and how fast has it grown?
4,766 students used an ESA at a private school in 2025-26, according to the annual report TDOE published in October 2026. That is up from 2,088 students in 2023-24 and 3,693 in 2024-25, and the number of participating schools rose from 81 to 110 over the same stretch.
| School year | ESA students (statewide) | Participating schools |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 2,088 | 81 |
| 2024-25 | 3,693 | 97 |
| 2025-26 | 4,766 | 110 |
The report does not break enrollment out by district, but it does say 87 ESA students graduated as seniors in 2025-26 and 251 withdrew during the year, most often to return to public school, move to a Category IV or V school, or leave the state.
How much is the ESA worth for a Metro Nashville student in 2026-27?
A full-year award for a student zoned to Metro Nashville Public Schools is $10,132.54, and a second-semester-only award is $5,066.27. Memphis-Shelby County students receive the same figure; Hamilton County's is $10,093.89. The formula takes the lesser of the district's average TISA allocation and the statewide average of state and local per-pupil TISA money.
That makes the ESA about $2,600 larger than the $7,530 Education Freedom Scholarship, which is why the ESA-or-EFS decision matters for Davidson County families who qualify for both.
What do the ESA test results show for Davidson County?
ESA students in grades 3 through 11 must sit for the TCAP in math and English language arts. In 2025-26, 23.8% of Davidson County ESA students met or exceeded expectations in ELA and 15.4% in math, compared with 33.0% and 31.6% for all Davidson County public school students, according to the report's tables.
| 2025-26 TCAP proficiency (met + exceeded) | ELA | Math |
|---|---|---|
| Davidson County schools, all students | 33.0% | 31.6% |
| Davidson County ESA students | 23.8% | 15.4% |
| All ESA students statewide | 24.3% | 17.0% |
| Tennessee public schools, all students | 42.3% | 40.9% |
TDOE's own report cautions against reading too much into the comparison. Private schools are not required to teach Tennessee's standards in the same sequence, and the TCAP is not the test those schools normally give, so ESA students may be tested on material they have not yet covered. The ESA population is also income-limited by design, which the all-student comparison does not adjust for.
ESA vs Education Freedom Scholarship: what the ESA is not
The ESA is not a statewide program; a family in Franklin or Murfreesboro cannot use it. It is not income-flexible, either: prior-year household income must be at or below twice the federal free-lunch guideline, which works out to $85,800 for a household of four under the guidelines in effect since July 1, 2026. EFS, by contrast, uses income only to set priority order.
The ESA is also not exempt from accountability. The TCAP requirement is one of the most common complaints in the parent survey, along with requests to buy school lunches and consumable supplies, which the law does not allow. And it is not combinable: a student may hold only one of the ESA, EFS and IEA in a school year.
Which Davidson County schools take ESA students?
34 Davidson County campuses are on the September 2026 Middle Tennessee ESA list: 10 Catholic schools, 15 Christian schools, 4 Jewish, Islamic or other faith schools and 5 independent schools. Every one of them is also EFS-registered, but not every EFS school in Davidson County is ESA-approved; Lipscomb Academy and Christ Presbyterian Academy, for example, appear on the EFS list and not the ESA list.
Because the ESA follows the student's zoned district rather than the school's address, a handful of schools outside Davidson County also take ESA students, including Currey Ingram Academy in Brentwood, Franklin Christian Academy and Galileo Preparatory Academy in Franklin, Lancaster Christian Academy in Smyrna, and Hendersonville Christian Academy and Pope John Paul II Preparatory School in Hendersonville. The list also carries 21 online schools.
When can Metro Nashville families apply for a 2027-28 ESA?
The 2027-28 application opens February 2, 2027 at noon Central and closes April 15, 2027 at 4 p.m. Central. When applications exceed capacity, TDOE follows its published enrollment lottery guidelines. Families should gather prior-year income documentation and proof that the student meets an enrollment condition, most often attendance at a Tennessee public school the prior year.
TDOE's Middle Tennessee list of participating schools, updated September 24, 2026, includes Catholic, Church of Christ, Jewish, Coptic, Adventist and learning-differences schools in Davidson County. Each one is tagged in our directory, and the full program rules are on our ESA page.
Frequently asked questions
How many students use Tennessee's ESA, and how fast has it grown?
4,766 students used an ESA in 2025-26, up from 2,088 in 2023-24, at 110 participating schools.
How much is the ESA worth for a Metro Nashville student in 2026-27?
$10,132.54 for a full year, or $5,066.27 for the second semester only.
What do the ESA test results show for Davidson County?
In 2025-26, 23.8% of Davidson County ESA students were proficient in ELA and 15.4% in math on the TCAP, below the county's all-student rates; TDOE cautions that the comparison has limits.
When can Metro Nashville families apply for a 2027-28 ESA?
From February 2 to April 15, 2027.
Which Davidson County schools take ESA students?
Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Coptic and independent schools are on the Middle Tennessee list; a few schools in neighboring counties also take MNPS-zone ESA students.
Related questions
- Is our household under the ESA income line?
- ESA or EFS: which should we choose?
- Which South Nashville schools take the ESA?
- How do the 2026-27 amounts compare?
Sources
- TDOE — Tennessee Education Savings Account Annual Report, October 2026
- TDOE — Education Savings Account Program (2026-27 award table, 2027-28 window)
- TDOE — School Choice Programs Comparison 2026-27
- USDA Food and Nutrition Service: Child Nutrition Programs income eligibility guidelines, July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027
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