The Hope Scholarship is an education savings account (ESA), also known as a voucher program, for West Virginia children in kindergarten through 12^th grade. It uses public funding to provide parents with alternatives to public schooling, including homeschooling or attendance at private schools.

The program is administered through the state treasurer’s office under the direction of the Hope Scholarship Board, comprising the state treasurer as chairman, the superintendent of schools, the chancellor of higher education, the attorney general, the auditor, the director of the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs, and two parent representatives appointed by the governor. The board determines student eligibility and approves qualified expenditures. Individual students’ accounts are managed through an out-of-state financial services company, which distributes approved payments directly to schools, service providers, and board-approved vendors.

When the Hope Scholarship Act was passed by the legislature in March 2021, it was widely described as the most expansive ESA program in the United States, with the Federalist calling it “the nation’s broadest school choice law.” In March 2022, the state began accepting applications for the 2022-23 academic year. That year’s awards, first distributed in January 2023, amounted to more than $9 million disseminated to 2,333 students. Initially, eligibility was limited to students entering kindergarten for the first time or those who had attended public schools for at least 45 days immediately prior to applying. Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, eligibility was expanded to include all K-12 students in the state.

Supporters of the scholarship argue that it provides students with more educational choices, particularly when parents believe public schools are not meeting their children’s needs or when students have been expelled from the public school system. Scholarship funds may be used for a wide range of education-related expenses, including tuition at in- and out-of-state private schools or microschools, homeschool services, tutoring, therapy, curriculum materials, computers, extracurricular activities, standardized test fees, museum admissions, and transportation for educational services.

Critics argue that the program diverts funds from an already strained public school system facing declining enrollment and tax revenue. As funding decreases, critics say, school districts may be forced to reduce staff, increase class sizes, or close schools, trends that have already been developing across West Virginia, where about 85% of students attend public schools. Opponents of the program further claim that some recipients enroll in unaccredited or virtual schools that may not provide adequate academic, social, or special education support. They also claim that the student selection process can be subjective, and that the program’s overall impact on student outcomes has not yet been systematically studied.

During the 2025-26 school year, approximately 15,000 students received Hope Scholarships, with awards averaging about $5,300 per student. Legislation provides for annual increases in the total funding available through an open-ended budgetary appropriation. By the beginning of the 2025-26 school year, the state had spent more than $80 million on the program. In 2026, the legislature appropriated $297 million to support the expanded program in 2026-27, with costs expected to rise in coming years as participation grows.

West Virginia’s ESA program is part of a broader national movement to increase parental control over educational decisions. Some observers trace elements of this movement back to the 1974 Kanawha County Textbook Controversy, a highly publicized dispute over the selection of public school textbooks.