Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice

What Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice does

EdChoice (legally Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, branded as EdChoice since 2016) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research, advocacy, and legal organization founded in 1996 and headquartered in Indianapolis. It educates the public and policymakers on K-12 school choice — vouchers, Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), tax-credit scholarships, and individual tax credits/deductions — and operates three core functional arms: a research division that publishes the annual EdChoice Bundle (six publications covering research reviews, polling, program snapshots, fiscal factbooks, the Friedman Index, and legal landscape analysis); a legal advocacy subsidiary (EdChoice Legal Advocates / EdLA) that litigates to defend choice programs in court; and a fiscal research center (FREC, launched in 2020) that models fiscal externalities of private school choice programs on public schools and taxpayers. The organization serves families seeking school options, state and federal policymakers, education researchers, media, and educators, primarily across the United States (all 50 states, DC, and several U.S. territories).

The organization's product surface is content- and data-driven rather than technology-driven. It maintains interactive dashboards (School Choice in America Dashboard, Schooling in America Survey Dashboard, Public Opinion Tracker via Morning Consult), the Choice Comparison Tool / ESA Builder for navigating state ESA programs, a research library and bibliography of empirical studies, a documentary ("From Our Perspective"), and multiple podcast series. There is no proprietary software stack or AI/ML technology disclosed; distribution relies on a website (edchoice.org), podcasts, YouTube, Substack newsletter, and an expert speaker bureau that provides free speakers to conferences and community events.

EdChoice is funded exclusively by donations and contributions from individuals and organizations that support its educational choice mission. It discloses outside direct funders of research and is a charter member of AAPOR's Transparency Initiative. All research, publications, dashboards, and speaker engagements are provided at no charge to end users; the organization has no commercial revenue model, pricing structure, or fee-for-service offerings.

Name

Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice

Legal name

EdChoice

Website

https://edchoice.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

EdChoice is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1996 that conducts research, advocacy, and litigation to advance K-12 educational choice — including vouchers, ESAs, and tax-credit scholarships — serving families, policymakers, researchers, and educators across all 50 U.S. states and territories.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Policy Research and Advocacy

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Policy, Research & Advocacy Organizations (Nonprofit) (BPAGADAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Tuition Assistance & Voucher/ESA Program Administration (EDADAHAF)

Keywords

• School choice research
• Education policy advocacy
• K-12 scholarship programs
• Educational savings accounts
• Fiscal impact analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Indianapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Funded by individuals who share the mission to ensure all K-12 students have access to schooling options that work for them, whether public, private, charter, or homeschooling.
2. Organizational Contributions: Funded by organizations that support educational choice mission. The organization discloses outside direct funders of research and is a charter member of AAPOR Transparency Initiative.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

EdChoice is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that produces annual research publications, interactive dashboards, and policy analysis on K-12 school choice programs (vouchers, ESAs, tax-credit scholarships). It provides free resources, expert speakers, legal advocacy through EdChoice Legal Advocates, and fiscal impact analysis through the Fiscal Research & Education Center (FREC) to inform families, policymakers, researchers, and media about educational choice options across U.S. states.

Product overview

EdChoice (formerly Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice) is an advocacy and research organization offering a comprehensive suite of educational choice products and services. The core product is the annual EdChoice Bundle, containing six research publications (Research Review, Polling Primer, School Choice Snapshot, Fiscal Factbook, Friedman Index, and Legal Landscape). Supporting products include interactive dashboards (School Choice in America Dashboard, Schooling in America Survey Dashboard), the Choice Comparison Tool for comparing ESA programs, the Fiscal Research & Education Center (FREC) with fiscal analysis tools, EdChoice Legal Advocates for litigation support, and extensive research libraries and podcasts. The organization also manages information about the Federal Tax Credits for Scholarships program and provides speaker services through its Expert Bureau.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EdChoice Legal Advocates (EdLA): Legal advocacy arm of EdChoice focused on school choice litigation efforts to protect choice programs for families
• Fiscal Research & Education Center (FREC)
• EdChoice Bundle
• Schooling in America Survey
• EdChoice Podcasts

Products and services

• EdChoice Bundle Annual publication bundle containing six research products (Research Review, Polling Primer, School Choice Snapshot, Fiscal Factbook, Friedman Index, and Legal Landscape) targeted at policymakers, researchers, and media covering K-12 educational choice.
• School Choice in America Dashboard Interactive dashboard tracking all K-12 school choice programs across U.S. states, including participation data, eligibility rates, funding amounts, and program types.
• Schooling in America Survey Dashboard Annual survey dashboard tracking American perspectives on K-12 education and school choice policies; provides longitudinal trend data conducted with Braun Research, Inc.
• Fiscal Research & Education Center (FREC) Research center studying fiscal externalities of private educational choice programs, including a fiscal effects dashboard and K-12 School Choice Calculator.
• Choice Comparison Tool (ESA Builder) User-friendly platform hosted at choicecomparison.org that helps parents, students, educators, and policy enthusiasts navigate and compare Education Savings Account programs across different states.
• EdChoice Legal Advocates (EdLA) Legal advocacy division engaging in school choice litigation efforts to ensure educational freedom programs withstand legal challenges, including partnership with the Institute for Justice.
• Federal Tax Credits for Scholarships (FTCS) Education Resources Educational resources explaining the federal tax credit program allowing individuals to receive dollar-for-dollar federal income tax credit for donations to Scholarship Granting Organizations, up to $1,700 per taxpayer.
• Research Library Searchable library of EdChoice's research publications with filtering by category, author, year, and state — includes empirical research, surveys, public polls, syntheses, and thought leadership on school choice.
• EdChoice Experts Speaker Bureau Free expert speaker service providing EdChoice staff experts for conferences and events covering educational freedom, school choice policy, legislation, history, fiscal effects, and research.
• EdChoice Podcasts Podcast series including Cool Schools, State of Choice, EdChoice Chats, Legal Update, Researcher Profiles, School Choice in Pop Culture, Sunday School Choice, and Tough Questions with Robert Enlow.
• From Our Perspective Documentary Documentary providing dialogue around education reform within the African American community, supported by discussion guides and a social media toolkit for community screenings.
• All Programs Database Comprehensive database of 75+ K-12 school choice programs across 34 states, DC, and Puerto Rico — covering vouchers, ESAs, tax-credit scholarships, and individual tax credits/deductions.

Quantifiable outcome

• School choice programs help improve students' academic performance over time according to random assignment studies
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Braun Research, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdChoice partners with Braun Research, Inc. for the annual Schooling in America Survey. Braun Research handles administration and data collection for the survey, which assesses American perspectives on K-12 education. The partnership has produced 13 years of continuous trend data since 2013.
• Morning ConsultcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdChoice partners with Morning Consult to provide the Public Opinion Tracker, offering ongoing polling data on public attitudes toward school choice and K-12 education issues. This provides real-time insights into American opinions on educational choice policies.
• Institute for JusticemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdChoice Legal Advocates (EdLA) partners with the Institute for Justice to defend school choice programs in court. The organizations collaborated on defending Wyoming's ESA program, resulting in a Wyoming Supreme Court victory upholding the program.
• American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdChoice is a charter member of AAPOR's Transparency Initiative, demonstrating commitment to transparency in survey research methodology and disclosure of research funders.
• Edunomics Lab at Georgetown UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFREC references Edunomics Lab resources for public school officials on budget management related to school choice impacts, providing educational resources for school administrators.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• American Federation for Children: National school choice advocacy organization that, like EdChoice, champions ESAs, vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships through lobbying, grassroots, and political action. Directly competes for donor dollars, policymaker mindshare, and the school choice narrative in state legislatures.
• Center for Education Reform: Long-standing advocacy organization promoting charter schools, school choice, and education reform. Overlaps with EdChoice in charter school advocacy and policy research, though historically more focused on charter expansion than ESA/voucher programs.
• ExcelinEd: Education reform policy organization founded by Jeb Bush that produces state-by-state policy analyses and advocacy for school choice, ESAs, and accountability systems. Comparable to EdChoice in producing research-driven policy recommendations aimed at state legislators.
• National School Choice Week: Public awareness nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of K-12 school choice options. Operates in the same school choice advocacy space as EdChoice and frequently co-promotes events, but focuses on grassroots awareness rather than policy research.

Emerging players

• Parents Defending Education: Grassroots parent advocacy organization active in school choice and parental rights debates. Operates in overlapping advocacy territory with EdChoice but focuses more on local community organizing than empirical research or legal advocacy.

Others

• KIPP Foundation: National charter school network providing K-12 education to underserved students. Tangentially related to EdChoice through the charter school component of the school choice ecosystem, but operates schools directly rather than conducting policy research or advocacy.

Broad incumbents

• American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC): Policy organization that drafts model state legislation, including ESA and voucher bills. Directly competes with EdChoice as a school choice infrastructure provider for state legislators, though through a different model (legislator-led committees vs. independent research).
• American Enterprise Institute: Centrist-conservative think tank with a substantial education policy program covering school choice, accountability, and reform. Overlaps with EdChoice on empirical research on choice program effects and competes for the same federal-level policymaker audience.
• Heritage Foundation: Conservative think tank whose Education Freedom Project produces policy research and federal-level advocacy on school choice, ESAs, and parental rights. EdChoice's K-12 policy research competes for policymaker attention and donor funding with Heritage's broader-issue positioning.
• Cato Institute: Libertarian think tank producing education policy analysis on school choice, vouchers, and ESAs from a free-market perspective. Comparable in producing empirical research that supports school choice arguments, though as part of a much broader policy portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@EdchoiceOrg
• Xx.com/edchoice
• Facebookfacebook.com/edchoice
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/milton-and-rose-d.-friedman-foun

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice