The Education Department proposes grant points for helping families use Education Freedom Tax Credit scholarships

The U.S. Department of Education wants its grant competitions to reward projects that help families use the Education Freedom Tax Credit. In a notice published in the Federal Register on November 5, 2026 (91 FR 69736) and signed by Secretary Linda McMahon on November 3, the department proposes a new line in the “Expanding Education Choice” priority it attaches to its discretionary grants: “Technical assistance for families to support their knowledge and understanding of education services available to students through scholarships supported by the Education Freedom Tax Credit.” Comments are due December 7.

What the department said. “The Department proposes to expand this priority to support the effective implementation of education choice initiatives, including the new EFTC,” the notice says. “Providing technical assistance about education services available to students through scholarships supported by the EFTC will help ensure that eligible participants understand the opportunities available under the tax credit and how to access and implement these options.” The version of the priority it amends, finalized on September 9, 2025, mentions tax credit scholarships only in a general list of school choice options and never names the federal credit. The new line would become part (c)(i), and the existing information-sharing item would move to (c)(ii). The notice also counts Treasury among six partner agencies that, in the department's words, “bring extensive experience in topics such as education choice scholarships” to its grant programs.

What a priority does. The Secretary's supplemental priorities are a menu. They carry no money of their own, and the notice “does not solicit applications.” When the department runs a grant competition, it can pick priorities from the menu and label each one in the notice inviting applications. Under an absolute priority, it considers only applications that meet it. Under a competitive preference priority, a project that meets it earns extra points, or is chosen over an application of comparable merit that doesn't. An invitational priority tells applicants the department is interested and gives no edge. The notice doesn't say which competitions will use the EFTC line or when. That gets decided program by program after the priorities are final.

Why it matters. A scholarship helps only a family that knows it exists. Under §25F, any K-12 student who is eligible to enroll in a public school and lives in a household at or below 300% of area median gross income can receive one, and it can pay for expenses on the Coverdell list, which names tuition, academic tutoring, special needs services, books and computer equipment, among others (what's settled and what isn't; Treasury's separate guidance on qualified expenses is still to come). Treasury and the IRS write the tax rules. If this proposal is finalized, the Education Department could steer some of its own grant competitions toward projects that explain those scholarships to parents.

How to comment. Comments go through Regulations.gov under docket ED-2026-OS-3169, by December 7, 2026. The department says it will respond to comments on the parts that are new or changed, which includes the EFTC line, and won't address comments on provisions it isn't proposing to change. This is a separate docket from Treasury's §25F rules (IRS-2026-1354), where comments close December 1 and the hearing is December 15.

For organizations. If you already plan to help families find and use scholarships, watch the department's notices inviting applications for the EFTC line once the priorities are final; who can apply depends on each program's rules. The scholarships themselves still run through the states. To award them, a scholarship granting organization has to be on its state's list (every state's process and deadline), and the free SGO Builder walks through the federal requirements every list checks. For the family conversations this priority is about, our one-page community explainer is free to share.