Still on the TEFA waitlist in El Paso? Tier 3 awards, prorated amounts and what to do before 2027-28

Thousands of El Paso families applied for a Texas Education Freedom Account last spring, and many of them heard nothing after a waitlist notice in May. If that's you, the picture has changed more than you might think. Over the summer the Comptroller kept pulling names off the list, and by late August the awards were reaching households that looked like long shots in the spring. Here is what moved, what it means for a family in El Paso or Hudspeth County that is still waiting, and what to do between now and the next application window.

Where the waitlist started

The state took applications from February 4 to March 17, 2026. The Comptroller's lottery update reported more than 274,000 applications. About 25,400 were ineligible. The first round funded 28,233 students in Tier 1, 16,520 of their siblings and 51,181 students in Tier 2, for 95,934 awards in all.

Everyone else went on a waitlist of 152,702 students, sorted first by priority tier and then by a random lottery number:

Tier 2, households at or below 200% of the federal poverty level: 20,383 waiting
Tier 3, households between 200% and 500% of poverty: 65,368 waiting
Tier 4, households above 500% of poverty: 66,951 waiting

Tier 1, children with a disability in households up to 500% of poverty, was funded in full, so no Tier 1 student landed on the list.

What happened over the summer

Awards kept going out in waves as money freed up. Funds open up when a family declines, when a private school student switches to homeschool and drops to the $2,000 amount, or when appeals are settled. The Comptroller announced more than 5,000 new awards to waitlisted students, then nearly 15,000 in the week of August 11, then nearly 4,500 more on August 28. The last two rounds went entirely to Tier 3 students.

By August 28, almost 50,000 students had received awards since the waitlist was created, and every student still waiting had moved up that many spots. More than 118,000 students held active awards, including more than 109,000 funded participants.

The Tier 3 rounds are the important part for El Paso. Tier 3 is the middle-income band, between 200% and 500% of the federal poverty level, where many two-paycheck households fall. Our look at El Paso's first-year numbers, based on data from late July, found that middle-income families had almost no chance in the first round. A month later, Tier 3 was the group being funded.

If you're still on the list

The Comptroller says it will keep issuing awards to waitlisted students until all available funding is going to participating students. It hasn't said the list is closed. But a late award comes with conditions:

Four weeks to act. An awarded family has four weeks from the award date to opt in and confirm enrollment at a participating school.
Smaller amounts after the deadlines. The full 2026-27 amount required confirmation by September 15. Families confirming after that receive 75% of the award, and those confirming after January 15 receive 50%.
A seat is up to the school. An award doesn't hold a place. In our directory, 28 of the 38 K-12 private schools in El Paso County take TEFA, and many of them are small.

Log in to the Odyssey platform and check the position range shown for your child. Families get an approximate range at first and an exact position once they're closer to the top. Watch your email and text messages, because that is how awards are announced, and all eligible children in a household are awarded at the same time.

A mid-year award can still be worth a lot. At 75% of $10,474, a student would receive roughly $7,850 toward the rest of 2026-27. If you'd use it, talk to the school you want now about whether it would take a student in January. Our El Paso school directory shows which campuses participate.

If no award comes this year

Students who don't receive an award this year have to apply again in a future cycle. Being on the 2026-27 waitlist doesn't carry over as a place in line. It still counts for something, though. State law requires the Comptroller to report waitlisted students to the Legislature, which uses that number when it sets future funding.

The second year also works differently for families already in the program. Funded students who stay in good standing continue without reapplying, and in year two, siblings of participating children are prioritized first. A family with one child already funded is in a much stronger position for a younger brother or sister than a family starting from scratch.

The Comptroller hasn't announced dates for the 2027-28 application. Families can join the interest list at educationfreedom.texas.gov to hear when it opens.

Bridging the gap this year

If your child is in a private school without an award, other aid still applies. The Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of El Paso offers tuition scholarships for diocesan schools, and many private schools offer their own need-based aid through the admissions office. Our pages on diocesan aid and school tuition assistance cover how to apply.

A short checklist

Confirm your contact details in the Odyssey platform are current.
Note your waitlist position and check it monthly.
Ask your preferred school whether it accepts mid-year students, and at which grades.
Have proof of income and Texas residency ready to go.
Join the 2027-28 interest list, and plan to reapply.
If your child may have a disability, ask your district about an evaluation. A child with a disability in a household up to 500% of poverty is placed in Tier 1.

Our TEFA guide for El Paso families has the full rules, and a School Funding Advisor can help you plan for either outcome.

Sources

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