Education-voucher applications fall 76 percent; the voucher covers 53 percent of tuition

On August 13, 2026, the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo reports that applications for education certificates - vouchers to move to private school - fell 76 percent between 2020 and 2025. Of 46,675 students who could have used the Free Selection Program in six years, only 2,570 did, 5.5 percent. In 2020-21 the Department of Education received 9,027 applications; last school year, 2,134. The data came from a public-records lawsuit. The voucher covers, on average, 53 percent of a year's tuition and monthly fees. The voucher's annual budget never exceeded 1.2 million dollars. If the average voucher had been granted to the 3 percent of enrollment the 2018 Reform allows, spending would have exceeded 18 million a year.

Félix A. Pérez Rivera, acting director of the Alliance Public Schools Office until July, attributed the low use to applications not meeting requirements and to the amount not covering a private year. The average cost of a private school, according to the Department of State, is 4,403 dollars a year; the average voucher, 2,336, only for tuition or monthly fees. Since the program has existed, 91 private schools have received 6,064,118.45 dollars; half are religious.

The CPI does not evaluate whether the program improves achievement. A Facebook survey: late notice, distrust of the lottery, little promotion. Families say they lose Special Education services. Wanda Ayala de Torres, of the Private Education Association, said that on entering the program the student follows that school's rules; Department therapies are not required if the private school does not offer them, though the student may receive them outside school hours.

On August 6, Presencia PR covered the 1,200 million cut and the 1,800 posts. On the 6th, NotiCel covered the school opening. This note of the 13th does not rewrite those kernels: it covers the voucher and the drop in applications. The Supreme Court, the CPI recalls, upheld the vouchers of Act 85 of 2018 after striking down those of 1993.

Anyone looking for the 91 schools or the court file has the CPI URL at the foot. This is not original reporting.

Source: Centro de Periodismo Investigativo. https://periodismoinvestigativo.com/2026/08/puerto-rico-school-vouchers-costs-private-schools/