North Dakota Senate Passes Education Savings Accounts for Private School Students

State Sen. Michelle Axtman, R-Bismarck. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(By: Michael Achterling. North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota Senate approved a bill  establishing Education Savings Accounts for private school students, but details are likely to be worked out by a conference committee.

The Senate voted 27-20 in favor of an amended version of House Bill 1540, which would provide vouchers for families to use for private school tuition or other qualifying education expenses. The accounts would not be available to public school or homeschooled students.

The amount each family could receive varies based on household income. Students from families in the lowest income category could receive about $4,000 per year, while students from the highest income category could receive a little over $1,000 per year.

Families with high incomes would qualify for vouchers in the version of the bill senators advanced. A previous version of the bill limited the vouchers to families who fall within 400% of the federal poverty level, which is an annual income of $128,600 for a family of four.

The Education Saving Accounts would be available for students for the 2026-27 school year.