An “Opportunity Grant” in North Carolina is worth up to almost $6500 a year to cover (or help cover) tuition at a non-public participating school.

According to the Private School Review, there are 93 private schools in North Carolina for which that Opportunity Grant amount could cover the entire tuition for this school year alone.

The average cost of tuition at a private school in NC is almost $10,000. The most expensive has a tuition of over $55,000.

All but 10 of those 93 aforementioned schools are religiously affiliated schools. 78 of them take Opportunity Grants.

The following table lists those 78 schools, the number of vouchers each school has received this school year and the number of students according to Private School Review. The last column is the percentage of students (based on the info) who are attending with a voucher. Please note that while the tuition for these schools is based on this year, not next. But if these schools stay the the same as far as tuition, then next year it could be covered entirely by a voucher.

(And yes, there are a couple who have fewer students than vouchers awarded. It probably means students who started the year with a voucher left after the school year started).

Nonpublic Schools – Alpha Order	All 2022-23 Recipients	All 2022-23 Students	Percentage Of Total Receiving
Ahoskie Christian School Ahoskie	38	231	16.4
Berean Baptist Academy Fayetteville	317	555	57.1
Bethel Christian Academy Kinston	101	347	29.1
C3 Concord Christian School Concord	42	42	100
Calvary Education Center Lemon Springs	18	36	50
Carolina Christian Academy Thomasville	74	142	52.1
Christ Classical Academy Connelly Springs	77	257	30
Columbus Christian Academy Whiteville	49	150	32.7
Community Christian Academy Bessemer City	179	233	76.3
Concordia Christian Day School Conover	53	267	19.9
Daniel Academy Concord	24	32	75
Elizabethtown Christian Academy Elizabethtown	53	164	32.3
Fayetteville Christian School Fayetteville	258	592	43.6
Fellowship Christian Academy Jacksonville	49	94	50.5
First Impressions Academy Fayetteville	84	288	29.2
Garnett Christian Academy Elm City	24	25	96
Gorman Christian Academy Durham	41	105	39
Gramercy Christian School Newport	147	222	66.2
Greater Fayetteville Adventist Academy Fayetteville	61	59	103.4
Greyfriars Classical Academy Matthews	1	52	1.9
Halifax Academy Roanoke Rapids	68	292	23.3
High Point Christian Academy High Point	136	681	20
Highlander Academy Red Springs	63	50	126
Hillsborough Christian Academy Hillsborough	23	53	43.4
Immaculata Catholic School Durham	44	532	8.3
Intellicor International Academy Charlotte	214	223	96
Jacksonville Christian Academy Jacksonville	162	236	68.6
Living Water Christian School Jacksonville	282	320	88.1
Matthews Christian Academy Matthews	67	160	41.9
Mintz Christian Academy Roseboro	81	263	30.8
Mount Calvary Christian Academy Hookerton	39	117	33.3
Mountain Pathways School Boone	2	76	2.6
New Hope Christian Academy Wallace	13	31	41.9
Norlina Christian School Norlina	12	19	63.2
Northwood Temple Academy Fayetteville	199	425	46.8
Opendoor School Winterville	5	84	6
Our Lady Of Grace Catholic School Greensboro	66	227	29.1
Pamlico Christian Academy Grantsboro	89	259	34.4
Pathway Christian Academy Goldsboro	5	53	9.4
Providence Preparatory Academy Wilmington	31	143	21.7
Quality Education Institute Durham	18	58	31.0
Reynolds Mountain Christian Academy Asheville	88	169	52.1
Rockwell Christian School Rockwell	138	311	44.4
Salem Baptist Christian School Winston-Salem	197	446	44.2
Salisbury Adventist School Salisbury	8	15	53.3
Scotland Christian Academy Laurinburg	102	228	44.7
Sheets Memorial Christian School Lexington	66	352	18.8
South Charlotte Baptist Academy Pineville	18	87	20.7
Southpoint Academy Durham	28	47	59.6
Southside Christian School Clayton	76	399	19
Spruce Pine Montessori School Spruce Pine	14	79	17.7
St. Catherine Of Siena Cath School Wake Forest	75	179	41.9
St. Egbert Catholic School Morehead City	16	117	13.7
St. Mark Catholic School Wilmington	38	536	7.1
St. Mary Catholic School Wilmington	42	190	22.1
St. Patrick Catholic School Fayetteville	69	221	31.2
St. Paul Catholic Education Center New Bern	80	170	47.1
St. Stephen’S Lutheran School Hickory	33	170	19.4
Tabernacle Christian School Hickory	170	237	71.7
Tabernacle Christian School Monroe	152	240	63.3
Thales Academy Of Apex K-5 Apex	18	507	3.6
Thales Academy Of Knightdale Knightdale	103	547	18.8
Thales Academy Of Rolesville Rolesville	34	519	6.6
Thales Academy Of Waxhaw Waxhaw	15	126	11.9
Triad Baptist Christian Academy Kernersville	68	336	20.2
Tri-City Christian Academy High Point	125	194	64.4
Trinity Christian School Of Fayetteville, Inc. Fayetteville	371	518	71.6
Union Grove Christian School Lexington	114	536	21.3
Unity Christian Academy Chocowinity	52	127	40.9
Veritas Christian Academy Fletcher	30	337	8.9
Victory Christian Academy Gastonia	143	223	64.1
Victory Christian School Sylva	30	86	34.9
Village Christian Academy Fayetteville	100	534	18.7
Wanchese Christian Academy Wanchese	11	33	33.3
Wayne Christian School Goldsboro	222	693	32.0
Wescare Christian Academy Troy	62	172	36
Wilson Christian Academy Wilson	74	460	16.1
Woodland Baptist Chr. School Winston-Salem	114	212	53.8
TOTALS	6405	18,548	34.5

Over one-third of the tuition costs for these 78 unaccountable religiously affiliated schools would be covered by taxpayer money.

ONE-THIRD.

Please remember that tuition is only one of the costs. There tend to be other fees and expenses like books, supplies, transportation, costs for extracurricular activities, and food. What a voucher can’t cover, the family must fund themselves.

Currently, NC is on pace to give well over a billion dollars to vouchers within the next few ten years.

There is even a push to extend the voucher system to home schools.

And this is a system that was considered the least transparent in the entire country in 2017. From the Children’s Law Clinic at Duke’s School of Law:

And still is in the 2020 version of the report from the same research team.

Here is some more food for thought from the NCSEAA, the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority.

Again, mostly religious schools that do not have regulations on curriculum and nothing really to enforce open admission standards. In fact, in most cases, it is hard to even measure how well voucher students do academically compared to public schools which are highly regulated and very transparent. From that most recent Duke study:

Now just view the schools in the past school year who have taken the most voucher money.

All but one of those schools is religiously based.