• 44% of Utah likely voters say they support the Utah Fits All Scholarship – the state’s universal private education choice program – while 40% oppose it.
• Over one-third of Democratic likely voters support the program.
• While voters who are parents of school-age children are more aware of the program than the general voter, a clear majority of them (64%) are not yet aware of the state’s newly passed Utah Fits All Scholarship.
• As lawmakers and education choice advocates consider additional parent-driven education reforms, they should recognize that choice seems to have gone mainstream in Utah.

Last week’s election showed that Utah is solidifying its position as a state that can support private education choice and its public schools. Candidates who supported education choice legislation since their last election did well in their political races. Even if their position wasn’t the deciding factor, we can at least say that it appears education choice is officially no longer the lightning rod issue that it once was in the state.

That said, Sutherland Institute’s education survey conducted by Y2 Analytics offers some interesting data about education choice in the state.

Most voters are unaware of the Utah Fits All Scholarship

Only 17% of Utah voters report being aware of the Utah Fits All Scholarship, with a full 75% of Utah voters saying they are unaware and 8% saying they are not sure. The low level of awareness is surprising, given the broad news media coverage of the program’s enactment and ongoing implementation.

The results from demographic subgroups are noteworthy, too. While Utah parents of school-age children are more aware of the program than the general population, a clear majority of them (64%) remain unaware of the Utah Fits All Scholarship. Twenty-nine percent of them are aware, while only 6% are not sure if they are aware.

When looking at political party subgroups, responses from independents are noteworthy. More independents know about the program (22%) than either Republicans (15%) or Democrats (11%). More independents are aware than the general population (22% versus 17% respectively). Only parents as a group are more aware than independents.

One caveat in drawing conclusions from these survey results is that we don’t know exactly what the question about awareness is capturing. Perhaps Utah voters are aware of the program conceptually but simply do not know its name. Regardless, this survey evidence around awareness indicates that the word may have not gotten out to most voters regarding the Utah Fits All Scholarship.

The universal scholarship program has more support than opposition

When likely voters in Utah were given a description of the Utah Fits All Scholarship and asked whether they support it, oppose it, or neither, more Utah voters chose support (44%) than oppose (40%). This is a significant political change in a state that voted down a universal voucher law in a 2007 referendum.

When broken into subgroups, support varies.

Maybe unsurprisingly, likely voters who are parents of schoolchildren support the scholarship program even more than the general population, since it impacts them in tangible ways. A majority (54%) of voting parents support the program, up 10 percentage points from all likely voters. Utah parents also reported a higher percentage of support than voters across all party affiliations: Republican (45%), independent (48%) or Democrats (35%).

Interestingly, support is higher among independents than Republicans. This is noteworthy since private education choice has been viewed as a politically conservative issue, and Republican state legislators enacted the legislation. At the same time, a higher percentage of independents also oppose the program (40%) than Republicans (30%).

Democrats are the only group that has higher opposition than support within its ranks, an outcome most would expect. Still, over a third of Democratic likely voters support the universal private choice program.

Conclusion

The survey data from Y2 Analytics indicates that education choice has gone mainstream in Utah. More Utahn voters support education savings accounts than oppose them. However, most voters remain unaware of Utah’s new universal program – something for advocates and policymakers to consider as they continue to advance parent-driven learning options for students and their families.

Y2 Analytics conducted the survey highlighted in this report.  

Methodology Details 
n = 560 likely Utah voters and 610 Utah schoolteachers 
Online interviews fielded Aug. 10 – Sept. 5, 2024 
Margin of error +- 4.1