June 7th, 2023 by WCBC Radio

State Treasurer Riley Moore, chairman of the Hope Scholarship Board, today announced his Office has approved the Hope Scholarship for more than 5,000 West Virginia students for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year, with several hundred more students potentially being awarded in the coming weeks.

“There has been a tremendous interest in the Hope Scholarship this year and our Office has been working diligently to ensure every eligible West Virginia family that wants to take advantage of this program to educate their children can do so,” Treasurer Moore said.

As of Monday morning, June 5, the Office had approved 5,099 Hope Scholarship applications for the 2023-2024 school year that begins this fall. There were 6,321 applications received by the May 15 deadline and 1,029 are still being processed in various stages of submission, review or on hold awaiting further documentation. All applications are set to be reviewed by July 1.

So far, the Office has only deemed 179 of the submitted applications as ineligible for the program, while 14 families decided to decline the award after being approved.

“If current trends hold, we could approach nearly 6,000 students receiving the Hope Scholarship this fall – remarkable growth for the second year of this program,” Treasurer Moore said. “That tells me West Virginia families have a strong desire for school choice and educational freedom options for their children.”

The Hope Scholarship Program is an education savings account available for kindergarten through 12th grade students. It is designed to allow parents and families to use the state portion of their child’s education funding to tailor an individualized learning experience through the approved Hope Scholarship Program Schools and Education Service Providers.

The scholarship amount varies each school year; for the 2023-2024 year, it will be $4,488.82. The first portion of Hope Scholarship funds will be distributed to approved students through the program’s online portal by Aug. 15, with remaining funds distributed by Jan. 15, 2024.