Report Highlights Record Growth, Strong Parent Satisfaction and Continued Expansion

State Treasurer Larry Pack, who serves as Chairman of the Hope Scholarship Board, today released the 2025-2026 Hope Scholarship Annual Report, highlighting significant success for students making satisfactory academic progress, overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents and continued growth in expanding educational opportunities for West Virginia students. 

This makes the fourth consecutive year the Hope Scholarship Program has released an annual report since its inaugural 2022-2023 school year. The latest report also includes results from the 2025-2026 Hope Scholarship Parent Satisfaction Survey, which was previously released on September 14, 2026. 

“The Hope Scholarship has come a long way since its launch in 2022, growing from just over 2,300 students to more than 14,400 during the past school year,” Treasurer Pack said. “What started as new opportunities for students has evolved into the gold standard for education choice programs around the country. We are proud of our ability to serve students throughout all 55 counties while providing more education resources and greater flexibility than ever before. We encourage parents to explore how the Hope Scholarship can meet their child’s unique educational needs.”

The report shows that 14,486 students were awarded the Hope Scholarship during the 2025-2026 school year, a nearly 38 percent increase from the previous year and more than six times the number awarded during the program’s inaugural year in 2022-2023. 

One of the report’s most notable findings came from the annual Hope Scholarship Parent Satisfaction Survey, which found that 96% of responding families were satisfied with the program. The report also highlights the historic eligibility expansion for the 2026-2027 school year. All West Virginia children in grades K-12, including existing private school and traditional homeschool students who were previously ineligible, can now apply to the program. So far, there have been more than 26,000 approved applications for the 2026-2027 school year.

Highlights from the 2025-2026 Hope Scholarship Annual Report include:

·      Parent Satisfaction: Of the 893 families who completed the survey, 96% reported overall satisfaction with the program.

·      Reasons for Participation: The leading reasons parents selected the Hope Scholarship were access to religious-based education (34%), concerns about public school curriculum (14%) and greater educational flexibility (10%).

·      Statewide Participation: Hope Scholarship recipients represented all 55 West Virginia counties. Kanawha County had the most recipients with 1,668, followed by Berkeley County with 1,424.

·      Educational Pathways: Approximately 62% of recipients attended nonpublic schools, while nearly 38% pursued an Individualized Instructional Plan (IIP), allowing families to customize their child’s education through home-based learning or other approved educational options.

·      Student Demographics: The program served students across all grade levels, with kindergarten representing the largest group at 2,130 recipients. Additionally, 1,217 recipients, or 8.4%, were identified as students with special needs.

·      Recipient Ethnicity: Of the 14,486 Hope Scholarship recipients, 89.59% were White, 4.8% were Black or African American, 3.53% were Hispanic, 1.65% were Asian, 0.24% were American Indian or Alaska Native and 0.18% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

·      Academic Progress: Academic progress submissions were recorded for 14,116 students, representing approximately 97% of recipients. Of the total 14,486 recipients, 14,107, or 97%, had satisfactory academic progress documented.

·      Financial Impact: More than $68.5 million in scholarship funds were spent on qualifying educational expenses, including approximately $45.5 million for nonpublic schools, $5 million for microschools and $4.7 million for education service providers.

The report also demonstrates the growing range of educational opportunities available to families, with more than 300 participating nonpublic schools and microschools and more than 1,300 non-school education service providers offering services such as tutoring, educational therapies, specialized instruction and supplemental learning resources.

Treasurer Pack said the findings reinforce the importance of continuing to strengthen the program as more students become eligible.

“The Hope Scholarship is about more than funding education. It’s about empowering parents to make decisions that can shape their children’s futures,” Treasurer Pack said. “As a father of six children, I know first-hand every child learns differently and has unique needs. Next to your individual faith journey, education is the biggest determinate to a successful life. We look forward to working with policy makers to improve educational outcomes regardless if it’s private, public, or an individualized learning plan.”

The Hope Scholarship is an education savings account program that allows eligible West Virginia families to use the state portion of their child’s education funding for qualifying expenses, including private school tuition, curriculum, tutoring and other educational services.

To view the full 2025-2026 Hope Scholarship Annual Report, visit https://hopescholarshipwv.gov/Portals/HopeScholarship/content/Documents/Reports/Hope%20Scholarship%2025-26%20Annual%20Report.pdf.

For more information about the Hope Scholarship Program, visit www.HopeScholarshipWV.gov.