Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) were expanded in 2022 with House Bill 2853! This scholarship gives families 90% of the state budget\u2019s funds per student directly to families. <\/span>Any student<\/b> in grades K-12 can opt out of the public school system and receive an ESA. Parents can apply for an ESA year round. ESAs can be used to pay for private school tuition, home education, tutors, curriculum, therapies, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n ESA applications can be completed online at any time, except in Q4! The scholarship, however, is awarded in four, quarterly disbursements:<\/span><\/p>\n Q1: July 1 \u2013 September 30 Families will receive ESA funds based on the quarter the contract is signed. For instance, if a parent signs a contract at any point during Q1 (July 1 \u2013 September 30), they\u2019ll receive Q1 funding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Visit azed.gov to find the Approximate ESA Funding Amounts but a child with no disabilities usually receives around $7,500 per year. This can go, for example, up to $34,000 per year for a child with an autism diagnosis. To see the annual amount you will get with a disability, click <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n ESAs can be used to pay for private school tuition, home education, tutors, curriculum, therapies, and more! Find a full list of eligible expenses from the Arizona Department of Education <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The funds are deposited in an ESA account where you can pay approved vendors directly. You can also submit eligible expenses for reimbursement. It takes about 3 weeks to set up and fund a new ESA account. The AZ Department of Education and the state Treasurer\u2019s office processes new ESA accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n By receiving a special education evaluation privately (private pay) or through your school district (for free, even if you are homeschooled, at a private school, or on an ESA)! We can support you in that process \u2013 start <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>!<\/span><\/p>\n Let your school know that you are no longer going to receive STO funds. They will ensure any funds that come to the school for your child are returned to the issuing STO. You will also want to notify your STO. Then, apply for an ESA and begin paying your tuition bills with your ESA. You cannot be on an ESA \/ STO in the same year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yes there is! You can join thousands of other families in our Facebook community <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>, ask questions, and make friends!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What is an ESA? Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) were expanded in 2022 with House Bill 2853! This scholarship gives families 90% of the state budget\u2019s funds per student directly to families. Any student in grades K-12 can opt out of the public school system and receive an ESA. Parents can apply for an ESA year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveyourschool.org\/arizona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveyourschool.org\/arizona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveyourschool.org\/arizona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveyourschool.org\/arizona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveyourschool.org\/arizona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/loveyourschool.org\/arizona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2548,"href":"https:\/\/loveyourschool.org\/arizona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646\/revisions\/2548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveyourschool.org\/arizona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveyourschool.org\/arizona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveyourschool.org\/arizona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveyourschool.org\/arizona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/h2>\n
Getting Started<\/b><\/h2>\n
Getting started on an ESA is as easy as 1-2-3!\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n
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\nNOTE: If you pre-applied for an ESA, the Arizona Department of Education still has 30 days to process your application. If you have questions about your application, see <\/i>azed.gov\/esa<\/i><\/a> for the latest information. Need more support? We\u2019ve got your back! Start <\/i>here<\/i><\/a>!\u00a0\u00a0<\/i>
\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/h2>\n
FAQs<\/b><\/h2>\n
When can I apply for an ESA?<\/b><\/h4>\n
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\n<\/span>Q2: October 1 \u2013 December 31
\n<\/span>Q3: January 1 \u2013 March 31
\n<\/span>Q4: April 1 \u2013 June 30<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Applications can take up to 30 days to process (from when a completed application is submitted) and the final determination is sent via email. During this process, the AZ Department of Education is unable to provide any updates about an application\u2019s status. The best course of action while waiting is to regularly check your email while waiting for your application to be processed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n
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How much will my ESA be?<\/b><\/h4>\n
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How can I use my ESA funds?<\/b><\/h4>\n
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How will I access my ESA funds?<\/b><\/h4>\n
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How do I qualify for special education ESA dollars?<\/b><\/h4>\n
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How do I switch from an STO to an ESA?<\/b><\/h4>\n
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What if I have more questions about ESAs? Is there a community of other ESA parents I can join?<\/b><\/h4>\n
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ESA Facts<\/b><\/h2>\n
ESAs are very popular with families across the state:\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n
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The ESA program includes multiple layers of accountability:<\/b><\/h4>\n
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The ESA program saves taxpayers money: <\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
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