Eligible educational expenses include tuition, fees, and transportation, or to purchase supplemental education services. Up to 10 percent of an award can be used for research. Two percent may be used for administrative purposes. Ninety percent must be used to provide grants to eligible students. Private schools may not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex.
Nothing prevents a religious school from giving preference to persons of the same religion.
Religious schools cannot be required to remove religious art, icons, scripture, or other symbols. Nothing in the legislation can be construed to require a religious institution to provide or pay for an abortion, or to prevent an institution from providing or paying for an abortion. First, the legislation requires participating education authorities to contract with a third-party entity to perform the research and evaluation of their programs. In addition, the legislation requires the Secretary of Education to establish an independent review panel to advise the Secretary on technical and methodological issues and in overseeing the activities funded under the legislation. The independent review panel will ensure that the evaluations funded adhere to the highest possible standards of quality.