1. (1) For the Program’s first year of operation, the Department shall accept applications from Eligible Students in accordance with subparagraphs (1)(a) and (1)(b) simultaneously and shall award a maximum of twenty thousand (20,000) EFS as follows, in the order in which the Department receives Completed Applications:

   1. (a) Ten thousand (10,000) EFS are available for Eligible Students who meet one (1) of the following criteria:

      1. 1. The student’s annual household income does not exceed three hundred percent (300%) of the amount required for the student to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, as provided in the income eligibility guidelines published by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service for the most recent year; or
      2. 2. The student is an Eligible Student as defined by T.C.A. § 49-6-2602 for an Education Savings Account (“ESA”) or as defined by T.C.A. § 49-10-1402 for an Individualized Education Account (“IEA”).
   2. (b) Ten thousand (10,000) EFS are available for Eligible Students, regardless of whether the Eligible Student meets one (1) of the criteria listed in subparagraph (1)(a) of this paragraph.

2. (2) For the Program’s second year and each year thereafter, if the number of applications received by the Department exceeds the number of EFS available for the respective school year, then the Department shall award EFS in the following order:

   1. (a) A Recipient in the immediately preceding school year who has a current EFS at the time of application;
   2. (b) An Eligible Student whose annual household income does not exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the amount required for the student to qualify for free or reduced price lunch, as provided in the income eligibility guidelines published by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service for the most recent school year, or who is an Eligible Student as defined by T.C.A. § 49-6-2602 for an ESA or by T.C.A. § 49-10-1402 for an IEA, in the order in which the Department receives Completed Applications;
   3. (c) An Eligible Student whose annual household income does not exceed three hundred percent (300%) of the amount required for the student to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, as provided in the income eligibility guidelines published by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service for the most recent school year, in the order in which the Department receives Completed Applications;
   4. (d) An Eligible Student who, at the time of submitting a Completed Application, is currently enrolled in a Public School or who is eligible to enroll in Kindergarten in a Public School for the respective school year, in the order in which the Department receives Completed Applications; and
   5. (e) An Eligible Student, in the order in which the Department receives Completed Applications.
3. (3) The Department may award an EFS to an Eligible Student in an order that does not comply with the order prescribed in this section, as applicable, if awarding the EFS out of order is consistent with the outcome of an administrative appeal adjudicating the denial of the Eligible Student’s EFS application.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 49-1-302 and 49-6-3501, et seq. Administrative History: Emergency rules filed March 21, 2025; effective through September 17, 2025. New rules filed June 20, 2025; effective September 18, 2025.