On the ESA vendor lists, universities are a rounding error.
Texas lists 5,648 approved vendors for its new ESA program. About ten belong to colleges, and most of those are campus child-care centers.
We searched every public ESA provider list we could find for colleges and universities: Texas, Alabama and Utah. Arizona and Florida keep their marketplaces behind a login.
Texas. The Education Freedom Accounts vendor finder lists 5,648 entries across eight vendor types. College-linked entries: UT Austin's online UT High School, campus child-development centers at UT Austin, UT Rio Grande Valley and SMU, community-college early childhood centers, and Stephen F. Austin State University for enrichment.
Alabama. The CHOOSE Act provider list, dated 23 October 2026, has about 1,400 entries. Roughly ten are colleges. Auburn appears as an online K–12 private school and a course provider; the University of South Alabama offers dual enrollment and a literacy center.
Utah and Arizona. BYU's independent-study high school courses take Utah Fits All funds. In Arizona, ASU Prep Digital is an approved vendor, and about 0.7% of ESA spending reaches any postsecondary institution.
The limit, first. A vendor listing shows availability, not spending. We could not see how much ESA money any college received, except Arizona's aggregate. Universities may also be paid indirectly, through dual enrollment arranged by a school.
What it shows. Where universities sell directly to ESA families, they sell K–12 schooling, courses and pre-K child care. None of the listings is a preparation program for educators.
Sources
- Texas TEFA Vendor Finder
- Alabama Department of Revenue — CHOOSE Act education service providers
- BYU — Utah Fits All options
- Arizona Department of Education — ESA FY26 Q3 report
Cite as: When Money Follows the Child. On the ESA vendor lists, universities are a rounding error Field Note 15, October 2026. https://www.whenmoneyfollowsthechild.org/notes/15/ Accessed [date].