ESA Scholarships can be used to cover a wide range of educational expenses

Every child learns differently, and a child’s family knows best what educational environment and services will give them the best chance of success.

The Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Account Program is specifically designed to help these students by giving their families the funding they need to craft a unique educational plan that meets all of their child’s specific needs. When the new program is fully operational, qualifying students will be able to apply for scholarships of up to $6,375 that can be used for a wide range of educational needs.

ESA scholarships can be used for:

Tuition

ESA scholarships can be used to pay for tuition at private schools, public charter schools, virtual classes, and even for your children to attend a public school outside of your home district.

Textbooks

ESA scholarships can be used to cover the expenses of textbooks required by a school or for textbooks used for homeschooling.

Homeschooling

ESA scholarships can be used to pay for homeschooling curriculum as well as a wide variety of homeschooling expenses.

Educational Therapy

ESA scholarships can be used to pay for educational therapies for students with special needs.

Tutoring

Families can also use ESA scholarships to pay for tutoring expenses to supplement the learning their children are getting at school or at home.

Testing expenses

Standardized testing and tests like the ACT or SAT can be expensive, which is why ESA scholarships can also be used to cover these expenses.

Transportation

Paying for school is one thing, but sometimes getting there can be just as expensive, which is why ESA scholarships can also be used to cover transportation costs for getting your child to and from school.

Computer hardware

After the pandemic, we all know that learning frequently requires technology. Thankfully, ESA scholarships can be used to cover the cost of computers and other needed educational technology.

Other expenses

ESA scholarships can be used to pay for a wide variety of other educational expenses, including paying for additional services from your district school and covering the cost of summer and after-school programs.

The great thing about the ESA program is that the family gets to choose how to use the scholarship funds and can pick and choose the services, schools and more that best suit their child’s needs.

So for example, a family with a student with special education needs and who are unhappy with the way their school is providing accommodations could use part of an ESA scholarship to pay for tuition to a private school that provides a more inclusive environment. They could also pay for therapy or tutoring services to help to get their child back on track.

The same family may decide that it is better to homeschool their child and could use the ESA scholarship to pay for a curriculum they can use at home. They could also purchase a computer and textbooks for their child to learn from home.

A family that is unhappy with the way their school district responded to the pandemic could use ESA scholarships to pay to send their child to a neighboring district that was more responsive to the parent’s and child’s needs or even to send their child to a charter school that has a specific educational model.

The possibilities for how families can use ESA funds are as varied as the differing needs of every student in the state.

As a result, families are no longer stuck with the cookie-cutter education provided by their local district and can instead tailor an educational program specifically to the needs of their children.