Student Funding

Use of Funds 

A variety of learning environments are available to participating families, including private schools, home schools, co-enrollment, and public schools. Education Savings Accounts can be used to pay for tuition and fees for private school, as well as certain services and products related to educating a child with disabilities, including curricula and textbooks. Curricula and textbooks must be related to the following academic subjects: math, science, English language arts, social sciences, or foreign languages. Tutoring, educational therapy, educational technology, transportation, and standardized tests are also included. Funds may not be used for consumable education supplies, such as paper and pens, or for tuition and fees at higher education institutions. Also excluded are household items, field trips, tickets to events, memberships to organizations, out-of-state in-person services, sports equipment, furnishings, and musical instruments. 

Funding Amount and Source 

The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) awards certain students with special needs accounts that are loaded each semester with funds for qualified educational and therapeutic uses, including private school tuition. Students may attend public school part-time while receiving partial awards with a maximum value of $4,500. Students attending a non-public educational option will see accounts funded up to $9,000 per student. Additionally, students with certain disabilities such as autism, hearing impairment, moderate to severe intellectual developmental disability, orthopedic impairment, or visual impairment can qualify for aid up to $17,000 per student. The North Carolina legislature appropriated $49,943,166 in 2024–2025 with a $1 million increase each subsequent year until 2032–2033, meaning no more than 4,200 students will be able to participate, or less than 1% of North Carolina’s K–12 student population. The appropriation limits participation in the program. Students currently receiving funding will have funding renewed, and then eligible applications submitted by the priority deadline are entered into a random lottery. Students are awarded the scholarship in order of lottery number until funding is exhausted. If the number of eligible applications exceeds the funds available, students will be added to a waitlist to fill slots that may become available in the future.   

 (Last updated July 14, 2024) 

Student Eligibility

 To qualify, students must have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), and a local school district must identify them as having special needs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) definition of a “child with disabilities.” These include autism; an intellectual disability; a hearing or visual impairment; a speech or language impairment; a serious emotional disturbance; an orthopedic impairment; a traumatic brain injury; another health impairment; and/or a specific learning disability. Every three years, continuing eligibility must be assessed by either a local school district, a psychologist with a school psychology focus, or a psychiatrist. Students must also meet the following requirements for eligibility: (1) live in North Carolina; (2) at least 5 years old by August 31 or at least 4 years old by April 16 and approved for kindergarten according to the head of the school after finding “that the child is gifted and that the child has the maturity to justify admission to the school” according to state guidelines; (3) has not graduated from high school; (4) has not enrolled in postsecondary institution full-time, and (5) has not been placed in a nonpublic school or facility by a public agency at public expense. Students may participate in both the Opportunity Scholarship and ESA+ program. 

(Last updated July 14, 2024) 

EdChoice Expert Feedback

North Carolina’s ESA program for students with special needs helps hundreds of students access schools that are the right fit for them, but policymakers could do much more to expand educational opportunity. Eligibility for the ESA is limited to students in grades K–12 who have had an IEP. Only one in 10 North Carolina students are eligible for a scholarship and approximately two percent of students statewide actually use one of North Carolina’s educational choice programs (including the Opportunity Scholarship). To expand access to educational choice, North Carolina policymakers should expand eligibility to all students. North Carolina’s ESA program generally avoids unnecessary and counterproductive regulations. (Last updated December 18, 2023)

Rules and Regulations

Program Guidelines

• Income Limit: None
• Prior Year Public School Requirement: Conditional
• Testing Mandates: Nationally-Norm Referenced Test
• Enrollment Cap: None
• Budget Cap: $49,943,166 (2024-2025) (Escalator)
• Account Cap: $9,000 ($17,000 for students with certain disabilities).
• Special Needs Pathway: Pathway

Participant and Family Guidelines

• Click Here for the Program Administrator’s Parent Handbook
• Education Requirements: Provide an education in the subjects of English language arts, mathematics, social studies and science
• Parent Supplemented Funds/Scholarships: Allowed
• Payment/Disbursement Frequency:
• Reimbursement: Allowed
• Miscellaneous:
  • ESA expenses subject to preapproval process
  • Release the school district from all obligations to educate the student
  • Use funds only for the qualified education expenses of the eligible student

Education Provider Guidelines

• Accreditation/Approval: State, regional, or national
• Employment Standards: Background checks
• Nondiscrimination: Federal
• Calendar/Curriculum/Attendance: English and math achievement reflected in testing
• Financial: CPA financial review for providers receiving greater than $300,000 in annual ESA scholarship funds

(Last updated December 18, 2024)

Governing Statutes

N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 115C-590 through 600 

(Last updated July 14, 2024) 

Legal History

No legal action has been taken against this program to date. 

(Last updated July 14, 2024)