As the school year begins, more than 1,000 students are using a new voucher program to escape troubled public schools in the nation's capital.

Officials running the nation's first federally funded voucher program said Wednesday the response was overwhelming. Seventy-four percent of students who applied for vouchers and were determined to be eligible are enrolled in participating private and parochial schools, and more applications are under review.

"We have 1,011 students that have been placed in 53 schools," said Sally Sachar, president of the Washington Scholarship Fund, the nonprofit group administering the program for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Department of Education.

In 17 days last spring, the scholarship fund received inquiries from the families of about 8,500 students. More than 1,800 children met program income requirements, under which a family of four could not earn more than $34,400 per year.

"The fact that so many families applied for and accepted these scholarships shows the demand for quality educational options," said Mayor Anthony A. Williams, who spent much of last fall building bipartisan support for the $12.1 million program.

Voucher advocates hope the experiment in the capital city, an idea debated in Congress for years before its passage in 2004, will energize the school-choice movement nationwide.

The Bush administration views vouchers as a way to empower parents and free students from struggling schools. Bush has proposed another $50 million for vouchers initiatives next year.

Critics, including Democratic presidential contender John Kerry, say vouchers strip money from public schools and funnel it to private schools that face little accountability.

The program provides up to $7,500 per child to cover tuition, fees and other educational expenses. While tuition rates range from $3,000 to $22,415 per year, participating institutions have waived costs exceeding the grant limit, or provided other financial aid.

Numerous problems in the D.C. Public Schools have fueled interest in the program. The system has its fifth permanent superintendent in nine years. In February, a student was shot dead inside a high school, allegedly by another student. Enrollment is down, including more than 10,000 students who departed for publicly funded charter schools.