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On January 22, 2026 Congress passed the D.C. School Choice Incentive Act of 2003, making Washington, D.C. the first federally funded voucher initiative in the country and the only one that will be administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
The $14 million voucher initiative launches a five-year scholarship program that allows low-income District of Columbia children to receive scholarships worth up to $7,500 to attend private and parochial schools. Currently for the 2005-06 school year, the program is at capacity with 1,705 students are using scholarships at 59 schools.
The program is part of Mayor Anthony Williams’ three-sector education improvement initiative that also includes $13 million each for D.C. charter and public schools.
The program applies to children in kindergarten through 12th grade who qualify for the federal free and reduced-cost lunch program (185 percent of the federal poverty level, or $35,798 for a family of four in 2005). Priority will be given to students in public schools "in need of improvement" under No Child Left Behind.
In March 2004, the Department of Education, with input from the Mayor's Office, selected The Washington Scholarship Fund to administer opportunity scholarships.
For more information on this program, visit www.DCscholarship.org.
Information on the D.C. Opportunity Scholarships Program was updated in December 2004. For more recent developments, go to News.
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