The Catholic Diocese of Dallas went into Texas's first year of Education Freedom Accounts with a plan. It hired a liaison, published bilingual application instructions, and told families plainly that a state account is not the same thing as a school seat. With the first deposits paid and year two under discussion in Austin, here is a practical look at how TEFA, the diocese's own tuition assistance and the Catholic Foundation's school grants fit together for a Dallas family.
The system in numbers
The Diocese of Dallas covers nine counties: Dallas, Collin, Ellis, Kaufman and Rockwall, plus Fannin, Grayson, Hunt and Navarro. Its Catholic Schools Office oversees 36 schools serving about 14,000 students, the figure CBS News Texas reported when Jeannette Lambert became superintendent in 2025. The schools range from small parish elementaries in Oak Cliff and Pleasant Grove to Bishop Lynch, Bishop Dunne and John Paul II High School.
One boundary trips up families every year. Denton County is not part of the Diocese of Dallas. Catholic schools in Denton, Flower Mound or Argyle belong to the Diocese of Fort Worth, which runs its own schools office and its own aid. If you live in Lewisville or Denton, check which diocese your school belongs to before you look for aid.
How the diocese approached TEFA
Lambert was enthusiastic from the start. In December 2025 she told The Texas Catholic that the program "will open doors to a faith-based education for families that may not have believed it was possible," and described it as a way to further the diocese's mission of forming "saints and scholars in the metroplex."
The diocese backed that with staff. Isabel Puente started as the TEFA liaison for Catholic schools in the fall of 2025 and spent the winter visiting principals, pastors and parish groups. In a February profile in The Texas Catholic, she said families "are always more open to Catholic education but are held back by the costs," and she tied part of that hesitation to misinformation about what Catholic school really costs.
The diocese's families page is careful about one point in particular. Applying for TEFA doesn't enroll a child anywhere. A family has to apply to a Catholic school, be accepted, and have the child enrolled by July 1 in order to use the account there. An award is worth nothing without a seat, so the school application has to come first.
Which schools take the account
When we checked the state finder on October 12, most diocesan elementary schools in our area were listed, including St. Cecilia, Mount St. Michael and St. Mary of Carmel in Oak Cliff and West Dallas, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bernard of Clairvaux in East Dallas, St. Monica and Christ the King near Preston Hollow, Good Shepherd in Garland, St. Joseph in Richardson, Prince of Peace and St. Mark the Evangelist in Plano, St. Martin de Porres in Prosper and St. Joseph in Waxahachie. Jesuit, Ursuline, Bishop Lynch, Bishop Dunne and John Paul II were listed too.
A few Catholic schools weren't in the finder, notably Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep and Cistercian Preparatory School in Irving. Our Catholic schools directory shows the status of every Catholic school we track, with the date we checked.
What TEFA covers at a parish school
The 2026-27 award is $10,474 per student, paid to the school in three installments: 25% on July 1, 25% on October 1 and 50% on February 1. At some Dallas parish elementaries, that sum may be close to or above the published tuition. When it's above, the remainder can pay registration, books, technology fees, uniforms the school sells and school lunch, and anything still unspent rolls forward while the child stays in the program. A family that banks a few hundred dollars a year through eighth grade arrives at high school with a small cushion.
The state's tuition guidelines matter here. A participating school must charge TEFA families the same tuition as everyone else, and a parish or sibling discount offered to everyone has to stay in place. A family that is registered and active at its parish shouldn't lose that rate because it has a state account.
The diocese's own tuition assistance
Separate from TEFA, the Catholic Schools Office runs a need-based Tuition Assistance Program for diocesan schools. It is funded by diocesan education endowments, the Bishop's Invitational Golf Tournament and other gifts, and it is meant for families with the greatest financial need. To qualify, a family completes the FACTS financial aid application every year, meets the school's entrance requirements and is current on any balance owed to a diocesan school.
For 2026-27 the program ran two rounds. The priority round, open only to students already in a diocesan school, ran from October 20 to December 20, 2025, with awards announced February 27. The regular round, open to new families, ran from December 21 to March 20, with awards on May 15. If the 2027-28 calendar follows the same pattern, the priority round for current families would open in late October. Check csodallas.org for the confirmed dates.
The Catholic Foundation's role
The Catholic Foundation, based in Dallas, doesn't take applications from parents, but its money reaches classrooms. At its spring 2026 ceremony it awarded $1.55 million in grants and tuition assistance to 37 North Texas Catholic schools, parishes and organizations. Tuition assistance from its Louise Emma Buhrer Endowment Fund and Dorothy Irving Memorial Fund went to 15 schools, including Holy Trinity, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Philip & St. Augustine, St. Pius X, St. Elizabeth of Hungary and Santa Clara of Assisi. The foundation also supports a high school tuition program for children of diocesan employees. If your school is on that list, ask the principal or business manager how the money is allocated.
Putting it together
- K-8 at a parish school: TEFA, if awarded, can cover most or all of tuition. Parish and sibling rates still apply, and leftover funds pay fees.
- Catholic high school: tuition is well above the award. Combine TEFA, the school's own aid, diocesan tuition assistance where it applies, and any balance carried from earlier years.
- No award yet: file FACTS on the diocesan calendar and reapply to TEFA when the 2027-28 window opens. Siblings of current participants go first in year two.
Our Catholic school tuition guide for Dallas keeps these pieces on one page, and the diocesan tuition assistance page has eligibility details. If you'd like an advisor to check your family's options, start with the funding check.
Sources
- Families gain education options through TEFA (The Texas Catholic, Dec 2025)
- From talks to tuition, Puente helps families navigate path to Catholic schools (The Texas Catholic, Feb 2026)
- Diocese of Dallas: Texas Education Freedom Accounts
- Catholic Schools Office: Student Aid
- New superintendent brings fresh vision to Diocese of Dallas Catholic Schools (CBS News Texas, Aug 2025)
- The Good Word, Summer 2026 (The Catholic Foundation)