Iowa

Education Savings Account Program

  • Education Savings Account (ESA)
  • Enacted 2023
  • Launched 2023

Iowa’s Education Savings Account Program allows eligible students to receive an ESA for approved educational expenses. Those expenses can include private school tuition, tutoring, credentialing, therapies, and online learning, and more. Iowa’s Education Savings Account Program will have universal eligibility for the 2025–2026 school year.

We do not administer this program.

Eligibility Test Apply

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  • 27,862

    Students Participating (Fall 2024)

  • 94%

    of Students Eligible Statewide (100% starting in 2025–26)

  • $7,826

    Maximum Account Value 

  • 59%

    Account Value as a Percentage of Public School Per-Student Spending

Student Funding

Use of Funds

Qualifying expenses for Iowa’s ESA include: private school tuition and fees; textbooks; tutoring services; cognitive skills training; fees for nationally norm-referenced testing, advanced placement exams, and any college admission exams; tuition and fees for non-public online learning programs; educational services and therapies; and vocational and life skills education. Participating students must be enrolled in an accredited nonpublic school, and they must use ESA funds to pay private school tuition before they may use ESA funds for other services. Home-based education is not a qualifying expense. All funds remain in the student’s account until they graduate high school, or turn 20 years old, whichever occurs first.

Funding Amount and Source

Accounts are funded at 100% of the state’s regular program cost per-pupil funding, absent administrative expenses. The program is funded through an appropriation from the general fund to the Department of Education for ESAs.

(Last updated July 29, 2024) 

Student Eligibility

Eligibility for Iowa’s Education Savings Account Program is phased in to near universal participation beginning in the 2025–2026 school year. Participating students must first be enrolled in an accredited private school to participate in the program. Home-educated students are excluded. For the 2024–2025 school year, students who previously attended a public school or are entering kindergarten are eligible. Students who attended private school the previous school year and whose family income does not exceed 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or students who have used an ESA in the previous school year are also eligible.  For students who previously used an ESA, parents must reapply annually. 

(Last updated July 29, 2024) 

EdChoice Expert Feedback

Although Iowa’s Education Savings Account Program will be one of the most expansive ESA programs in the country once phased in and has the potential to help hundreds of thousands of students obtain the educational services that best fit their needs, participating students must be enrolled in a private school. Policymakers could do more to expand educational opportunities.  All Iowa students are eligible to receive an ESA if they are switching out of a public school in grades 1-12 or entering kindergarten, or if they were previously enrolled in private school and their family income is below the threshold in the first two years of the program. In the program’s third year, all students in the state will be eligible.  ESAs are funded at 100 percent of the state’s regular program cost per pupil per-pupil funding, absent administrative expenses. The ESA empowers families with the freedom and flexibility to customize their child’s education, and the program’s rollover provision allows them to save for future educational expenses.   The program is administered by the Iowa Department of Education, which may contract with a third-party manager.  In order to make this program even more expansive for Iowa families, Iowa policymakers could improve access by including students who wish to use their ESA for individualized instruction in a non-school setting (e.g. home), and relax the limitation on accreditation for participating schools, such as microschools. Additionally, they could allow ESA spending on transportation (as Arizona does). Although it is a hurdle for parents to have to reapply for the funding every year, the program is otherwise fairly light on parent requirements outside of clearly defined eligible expenses. The requirement of all participating students to take state and federally required assessments has more of a potential to deter participation than allowing students to choose from a variety of nationally norm-referenced tests like similar programs.  (Last Updated December 18, 2023)

Rules and Regulations

Program Guidelines

  • Income Limit: Year 1 – 300% FPL, Year 2 – 400% FPL, None Year 3 and Thereafter
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: Conditional; None Year 3 and Thereafter
  • Enrollment Cap: None
  • Account Cap: 100 % of the Regular Program State Cost per Pupil
  • Budget Cap: None
  • Testing Mandates: All Applicable State and National
  • Special Needs Pathway: Universal

Participant and Family Guidelines

  • Click Here for the Program Administrator’s Parent Handbook
  • Education Requirements: N/A
  • Parent Supplemented Funds/Scholarships: Allowed
  • Disbursement/Payment Frequency: Annually (DOE may change to biannually)
  • Reimbursement Allowance: Not permitted
  • Miscellaneous:
    • Parents must reapply each year after initial approval.
    • Parents must first use funds for all expenses that are tuition and fees for which they are responsible for payment at the student’s private school prior to using the ESA for other qualified expenses.
    • Parents must not spend account funds on transportation costs, food or refreshments, clothing, or the cost of disposable materials

Education Provider Guidelines

  • Accreditation/Approval: Be accredited by a state or state approved independent accrediting agency
  • Employment Standards: Background checks for teachers at private schools
  • Nondiscrimination: Follow allow applicable state and federal nondiscrimination laws
  • Calendar/Curriculum/Attendance: N/A
  • Financial: May not refund, rebate, or share any portion of such payment with the parent, guardian, or pupil

(Last updated December 18, 2024)

Governing Statutes

Iowa Stat. §257.11B

(Last Updated July 29, 2024)