Education Scholarship Account Program

Students must come from families earning no more than 400% of the threshold for Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRL) program ($222,000 for a family of four in 2023–2024) and have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for students with special needs. Eligible plans include an IEP from a public school district as well as a special needs service plan from a private school. Siblings are also eligible to participate, but they may not use the funds to cover any disability-related expenses unless that sibling also has an IEP. ESA recipients are not eligible to combine funding with Indiana’s voucher, the Choice Scholarship Program. ESA recipients are eligible to combine funding with Indiana’s School Scholarship Tax Credit program. Students who are between 5 and 22 years are eligible. Indiana’s ESA program mandates participating students take the state test or the assessment dictated by their special education service plan. In addition to facilitating these tests, participating schools receiving ESA payments in excess of $100,000 face additional financial regulations and reporting requirements. Administration of the program is overseen by Indiana’s Treasury Department. _(Last updated July 22, 2024)_

Education Scholarship Accounts may be used for private school tuition and fees as well as other educational services, including testing fees; special needs services and therapies; individual classes and school-sponsored extracurricular activities; occupational therapy; and curriculum. Students may also use up to $750 of their ESA funds annually for transportation services to a special education provider. _(Last updated July 18, 2024)_

Accounts are funded at 90% of what a student without an IEP would receive in a public school, which is affected by a student’s school district of residence. If the student chooses not to receive special education services from the district, accounts are funded with the per-student special education funding for the district of residence. Parents may roll over up to $1,000 of unused funds each year plus previous years’ rollover amounts to be used in subsequent years, up to when a participating student graduates or turns 22 years old. All of the $10 million appropriation has been distributed this year, meaning less than 1% of Indiana K–12 student population can participate. The Indiana legislature also appropriated an additional $1.5 million for administration of the accounts. _(Last updated July 18, 2024)_

No legal challenges have been filed against this program. _(Last upda ted September 4, 2024)_