By Katelyn Aluise, The Herald-Dispatch
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Hope Scholarship Program has officially met state law requirements to become available for all school-age children in West Virginia for the 2026-27 academic year, state Treasurer Riley Moore announced in a news release Tuesday.
“This will be a monumental leap forward for school choice, allowing tens of thousands of additional West Virginia families to access this program,” Moore, chairman of the Hope Scholarship board, said in the release.
The Hope Scholarship Act was passed by the state Legislature in 2021 and allowed families of children entering kindergarten or enrolled in public school for a certain period of time to use tax funding that would have gone toward their child’s public education as a stipend for private, alternative or homeschool education instead.
But according to the release, if certain enrollment figures are met, all school-age children would have access to the scholarship in coming years, effective July 1, 2026.
The release states Hope Scholarship students and applicants would need to total less than 5% of net public school enrollment for the previous school year as of July 1 for the program to expand. According to data provided to the Hope Scholarship Board by the West Virginia Department of Education, the total number of students and applicants, as of Monday, is below 5%.
