Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 2 in May 2025, creating a $1 billion voucher program for the 2026-27 school year; 57% of the students accepted had been in private school or homeschooled the year before, and the Legislative Budget Board projects the program could grow to $4.8 billion in 2030. In December 2025 he announced that Texas would opt in to the federal tax credit for private-school scholarship donations, a credit EdTrust says could cost the federal government up to $56 billion a year.
Abbott also signed the 2023 law banning diversity, equity and inclusion offices at Texas public universities, and UT Austin then let go about 60 people in April 2024.
Greg Abbott's Voucher Law, His Tax Credit Opt-In and His University DEI Ban
- Abbott Signed a $1 Billion Voucher Law; Most Students Accepted Were Not in Texas Public Schools. On May 3, 2025, Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 2, which created Texas Education Freedom Accounts paying families $10,474 per student each year toward private school tuition and other approved costs, with $1 billion in the state budget for the 2026-27 school year. Of the students accepted, about 43% had attended a Texas public school in 2024-25 while 57% were already in private school or homeschooled, according to state data reported by Community Impact. The Legislative Budget Board projected that demand would lead lawmakers to grow the program to $3.3 billion in 2028 and $4.8 billion in 2030.
- Abbott Opted Texas Into the Federal Private-School Tax Credit Created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. On December 10, 2025, Greg Abbott announced Texas's plan to join the federal tax-credit scholarship program that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act created, saying: "Thanks to President Trump, generous Texans can receive a tax credit for donations to a qualified scholarship granting organization." Texas is on the IRS's June 2026 list of states that elected to take part. The credit repays donors dollar for dollar, up to $1,700 each, for gifts to groups that fund private-school scholarships, and EdTrust estimates "it could cost the federal government as much as $56 billion annually," with eligibility reaching "about 90% of all families in the U.S., including the very wealthy." The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy expects most eligible people not to give, in part "because private school vouchers are unpopular with the public."
- Abbott Signed the 2023 University DEI Ban; UT Austin Then Fired About 60 Workers and Closed Student Centers. On June 17, 2023, Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17, which bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Texas public universities and took effect January 1, 2024. To comply, the University of Texas at Austin fired about 60 people in April 2024, according to a letter from the Texas AAUP and NAACP, and its president disbanded the university's Division of Campus and Community Engagement, an office that served students facing the greatest barriers to education, the Texas Tribune reported. The university had already closed its multicultural center and ended a scholarship program for undocumented students.
Who Gets Greg Abbott's Texas Voucher Money
- White students are overrepresented among Texas voucher recipients. White students make up about 40% of voucher participants, compared with about 24% of Texas public school students in 2025-26, while Hispanic students are 28% of participants against 53% of public school students, Community Impact reported from the comptroller's report.
- Tens of thousands of Texas students now draw state money for private school or homeschooling. By July 29, 2026, 85,344 students had signed up with a participating private school or reported homeschooling plans under the program, Community Impact reported.
Frequently Asked Questions About Greg Abbott on Education
What is Greg Abbott's record on education under Trump?
Greg Abbott signed the 2025 law creating a $1 billion private-school voucher program whose first-year recipients mostly came from private schools or homeschooling, and he opted Texas into the federal voucher tax credit created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. He also signed the 2023 ban on DEI programs at public universities, after which UT Austin fired about 60 people.
Do private schools in Greg Abbott's voucher program have to accept every student?
No. Under the voucher law Greg Abbott signed, Texas private schools may reject students, and state law does not make participating schools accept every family that applies, Community Impact reported; more than 2,600 private schools had been approved to take the money.
What did Greg Abbott's DEI ban do at UT Austin?
After Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17, UT Austin fired staff who had worked in DEI programs, and the AAUP and NAACP said many of them had recently been moved into jobs unrelated to DEI before they were fired, the Texas Tribune reported.
Last updated: 2026-10-26