More than 13,000 Ohio students -- about 2,400 of them in Columbus -- want to use public money to attend parochial or other private schools next year.
It's the most applicants yet for the Educational Choice Scholarship Program, which enters its fourth year in the fall. The number also is edging toward the cap on available vouchers, which is set at 14,000.
More than two-thirds of the applicants, 8,780, requested voucher renewals, meaning they attend a parochial or other private school using a voucher this school year. The number of new applicants, 4,284, was down slightly from last year.
About 3,100 students were awarded vouchers in the first year of the program.
Columbus, which is the state's largest school district and has the most schools in which students are eligible for vouchers, also had the most students who sought renewal.
The deadline to apply for vouchers for next school year was in April. Students applied to the participating parochial or other private school of their choice, and the school then asked the state for voucher money.
Renewal requests making up a majority of applications "says that the students and parents participating in the program see that they're receiving a valuable education through the choice program," said Scott Blake, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education.
Students assigned to public schools that have been in academic emergency or academic watch for three consecutive years are eligible to apply. But fewer public schools were on that list this time around.
In central Ohio, the only voucher-eligible schools were in Columbus. In past years, schools in the Groveport Madison, South-Western and Whitehall districts also had eligible students.
High-school students can get up to $5,000, and younger students up to $4,250.
The program distributed about $25 million last school year.
The Education Department said the voucher program has grown as more parents learn it exists. But the department hasn't had money to spread the word about it for a couple of years.
Advocacy organizations have picked up the slack.
"We believe it's vital for parents to know about this option and have as much information as they can to decide if it's right for their child," said Chad Aldis, executive director of School Choice Ohio, which is based in Columbus.
For the past couple of years, the organization has phoned parents with students in voucher-eligible schools to tell them about EdChoice. This year, it called more than 50,000 numbers, Aldis said, and mailed 60,000 pieces of information.
In Franklin County, about 45 parochial and other private schools accept vouchers. Some, including All Saints Academy and Harvest Preparatory School, have accepted more than 200. St. James the Less, a Catholic school, submitted 279 applications on behalf of students for next year, the second-largest number in the state.
jsmithrichards @dispatch.com