For the first time, Indiana sent more school vouchers to families earning over $100,000 than to families earning less. That happened in the 2025-26 school year. The Indiana Department of Education shared the news in its yearly report. Chalkbeat Indiana and The Indiana Citizen covered it.
The program is called the Choice Scholarship program, and it helps pay private school tuition. This year 80,548 students took part, about 4,000 more than the year before, Chalkbeat Indiana reported. The state awarded about $548 million.
The shift is clearest by income. The Indiana Citizen reported that more than half of the families in the program earned over $100,000. That is well above Indiana's median household income of about $72,000.
The change shows up across income groups. Chalkbeat Indiana reported that vouchers to families earning less than $50,000 fell from about 16,000 in 2024-25 to about 12,000 in 2025-26. At the same time, vouchers to families earning more than $200,000 rose to about 7,000. That number was about 5,400 the year before and about 3,700 in 2023-24. These counts cover different income groups, so the dossier does not show that they add up to the total change in enrollment.
People disagree about what the numbers mean. Chalkbeat Indiana reported that public education advocates say vouchers now help families who can already pay tuition. Some choice advocates say that view ignores large families. About 72% of participating families have four to six people, the report said.
To qualify for a 2025-26 voucher, a family's income had to be under 400% of the cutoff for subsidized school meals. Chalkbeat Indiana reported that was about $238,000 for a family of four. Most students do not get full tuition, Chalkbeat reported. Instead they get an amount equal to 90% of the state's per-pupil funding for their local public school district. About 20,000 students received full tuition and fees, and that number has fallen since 2023-24.
Spending set a record. The Indiana Citizen reported the state awarded $548 million in 2025-26, up from $497 million the year before. Chalkbeat Indiana noted the 2024-25 figure was later adjusted because some students left their choice schools before the year ended. Actual payments that year were about $491 million.
Growth slowed for a second year in a row. Chalkbeat Indiana reported the program added about 4,000 students in 2025-26. It added about 6,000 in 2024-25 and nearly 17,000 in 2023-24, after 2023 changes made vouchers open to nearly all Indiana families. Most voucher students have never attended an Indiana public school. The report showed a small rise of about 2,000 students who had.
More change is coming. Chalkbeat Indiana reported that the 2025 legislative session approved vouchers for all Indiana families, no matter their income. Those changes took effect in July 2026. Any effect on enrollment will not be clear until the next school year.