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🎓 Arizona School Choice, ESAs & Scholarships

Which Arizona education savings accounts, scholarships and tax credits a homeschool family can use, what they pay for, and where Arizona stands on school choice — from our Arizona guide.

Overseen by	Arizona Department of Education (ADE), under A.R.S. §§ 15-2401 to 15-2406. The State Board of Education may adopt rules for the program and hears parents' appeals of ADE decisions (§ 15-2403, D and I). The State Treasurer holds the accounts (§ 15-2402, C).
How families spend	Through ClassWallet, the payment platform for Arizona ESAs. By law ADE must also allow reimbursement of a parent for allowable purchases (§ 15-2403, L).
Amount per student, 2026–27	By law, 90% of the base support level and additional assistance the student would bring to a charter school (§ 15-2402, C), so the amount depends on grade and on disability or other funding weights. ADE's 2026–27 per-student figures could not be checked for this guide; check your award letter or ADE's ESA site. JLBC's FY 2027 (2026–27) budget assumes 113,602 ESA students eligible for total awards of ,215,678,900.
Who is eligible	Any Arizona resident eligible to enroll in an Arizona public school's preschool program for children with disabilities, kindergarten or grades 1–12 (§ 15-2401.01, since 2022–23). The statute's universal category has no income test. A student can't be enrolled in a district or charter school while receiving ESA money, and can't take an STO scholarship in the same year.
Application window	Year-round: ADE accepts applications between July 1 and June 30 and must issue an award letter within 30 days after a complete application. An application completed after March 31 and before July 1 starts on or after July 1 (§ 15-2403, H). Accounts are renewed every year (§ 15-2402, F).
Homeschool status	Not homeschooling. The signed ESA agreement counts as school attendance under § 15-802 (§ 15-2402, I), and the parent agrees not to file a homeschool affidavit (§ 15-2402, B, 5). Families who don't want an ESA homeschool under § 15-802 by filing an affidavit with the county school superintendent.

How the Arizona ESA works

Arizona created the ESA in 2011, first for students with disabilities, and widened it to more groups over time. HB 2853 (Laws 2022, Chapter 388, approved by the Governor July 7, 2022) added A.R.S. § 15-2401.01, which, beginning in the 2022–23 school year, makes any Arizona resident eligible who could enroll in a public school preschool program for children with disabilities, kindergarten or grades 1–12 and doesn't already qualify another way. The older categories in § 15-2401 (for example students with disabilities, children of active-duty military, children living on a reservation, and siblings of ESA students) still exist, and they matter mainly for the extra services and amounts tied to a disability.

The money: in exchange for the parent's agreement, ADE transfers to the State Treasurer, for deposit in the child's account, 90% of the sum of the base support level and additional assistance the student would generate at a charter school (§ 15-2402, C). Funding weights make the amount vary widely by student. A December 18, 2024 Senate Research Staff brief put the range at $4,626 to $44,666 a year, with an average of $9,895, using the figures available then. ADE's 2026–27 per-student amounts could not be checked for this guide. ADE makes the transfers quarterly unless it decides another schedule is necessary (§ 15-2403, G). ESA money is not taxable income to the parent (§ 15-2402, L).

Unused money stays in the account. If a parent doesn't renew for three academic years, ADE must give 60 days' notice before closing the account and returning the money to the state (§ 15-2402, H). Otherwise the account can stay open after high school while the student uses it at an eligible college, and closes when the student graduates from college or after four consecutive years out of college (§ 15-2402, K).

How many students: ADE reported 102,891 ESA awardees in FY 2026 (2025–26), 4,986 more than the budget assumed, and the FY 2027 budget assumes 113,602 in 2026–27, according to JLBC's FY 2027 Appropriations Report. Through the third quarter of FY 2026, ADE estimated that about 59% of students newly enrolled in the universal ESA in FY 2026 had been in a public school the year before.

The debate over cost and oversight: the ESA is one of the most debated programs in Arizona. Governor Hobbs's FY 2027 executive budget (January 16, 2026) proposed a

What the money can pay for

A.R.S. § 15-2402, B, 4 lists the qualified expenses. The ones that matter most to families teaching at home:

Curricula and supplementary materials. The law defines curriculum as a course of study for content areas or grade levels, including supplemental materials it requires or recommends, approved by ADE (§ 15-2401). In 2024 the Attorney General told ADE that supplementary materials must be connected to a curriculum and documented, and ADE changed its procedures (Senate Research brief, Dec. 2024).

Tutoring or teaching services from an individual who isn't subject to State Board of Education discipline for immoral or unprofessional conduct, or from a facility accredited by a state, regional or national accrediting organization

Tuition or fees for a nonpublic online learning program

Fees for a nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement test, an Advanced Placement exam or exams related to college admission

Tuition, fees and required textbooks at an eligible postsecondary institution: an Arizona community college, a state university or an accredited private college

Services provided by a public school, including individual classes and extracurricular programs

Computer hardware and technological devices primarily used for an educational purpose, such as calculators, computers, laptops, tablets, microscopes, telescopes and printers — not televisions, telephones, video game consoles or home theatre and audio equipment

Tuition, fees, required textbooks and uniforms at a qualified (private) school that fingerprints all teaching staff and personnel with unsupervised contact with students

For a student with a disability (a 504 plan, or identified by a school district or ADE's independent third party): educational therapies from a licensed or accredited provider, a licensed or accredited paraprofessional or aide, ADE-approved vocational and life skills education, and evaluations, assistive technology rentals and braille services

Public transportation or rideshare services between home and a qualified school the student attends; other transportation is not allowed

Fees to manage the account, and insurance or surety bond payments

Schools and providers may not share, refund or rebate ESA money with the parent or student in any way (§ 15-2402, J). Spending that ADE finds isn't allowed must be repaid, and repayments go back into the account (§ 15-2403, M). Check ADE's handbook and expense database before a big purchase.

ESA students are not homeschool students

Arizona law gives a family two separate ways to educate a child at home, and they don't overlap. Under § 15-802, A, the parent of a child between 6 and 16 chooses a public, private or charter school or a homeschool, or signs a contract to take part in an ESA. A homeschool family files an affidavit of intent with the county school superintendent. An ESA family signs ADE's agreement instead, and that signed agreement counts as the school attendance the law requires (§ 15-2402, I). One of the promises in the agreement is not to file a homeschool affidavit (§ 15-2402, B, 5). Both the Maricopa and Pima county school superintendents ask families not to file a homeschool affidavit for a child who has an ESA. ADE gives each county school superintendent a list of the ESA students who live in the county (§ 15-802, F).

What an ESA family takes on: a yearly renewal; spending only on qualified expenses with records ADE can review; a random account review at most once in five years if in good standing, and possible suspension or removal for breaking the rules (§ 15-2403, C); no enrollment in a district or charter school while funded; and no STO scholarship in the same year. The ESA chapter (§§ 15-2401 to 15-2406) contains no testing requirement. The law also says it doesn't let any government agency control or supervise a nonpublic school or homeschool (§ 15-2404, A).

Switching between the two: a family that stops homeschooling must tell the county school superintendent within 30 days, and a family that resumes homeschooling must file a new affidavit within 30 days (§ 15-802, C). Maricopa County uses a Homeschool Withdrawal Form for this. So a homeschool family moving to an ESA notifies the county that homeschool instruction has ended, and a family that leaves the ESA to homeschool files a new affidavit.

Families who don't want state funds: homeschooling under the affidavit needs no state money, no reporting and no testing. Arizona Families for Home Education (AFHE), the statewide homeschool organization, says it exists to promote "parent-directed, privately funded, home-based education." AFHE describes ESA students as contract students with the state who do not file an affidavit.

Tax-credit scholarships (STOs) and the federal tax credit

Arizona has four tax credits for donations to certified School Tuition Organizations (STOs), which give scholarships for students to attend Arizona private schools. They don't pay homeschool costs. A parent agrees in the ESA contract not to accept an STO scholarship for the child in the same year (§ 15-2402, B, 3).

The individual credits (2026 tax year, per the Arizona Department of Revenue): the Original credit (§ 43-1089, Form 323) allows up to $787 for single filers, married filing separately and heads of household and

,570 for married couples filing jointly; the Switcher or PLUS credit (§ 43-1089.03, Form 348) allows up to $784 and

,561 more, for taxpayers who have given the Original maximum. For 2027 the limits are $797/

,589 (Original) and $794/

,580 (Switcher). Donations made January 1 through April 15, 2027 can be claimed on the 2026 return at the 2026 limits. A donor can't designate a gift for the donor's own dependent. STOs must consider applicants' financial need (§ 43-1603).

The corporate credits: the Low-Income corporate credit (§ 43-1183) is capped at

10,000,000 a fiscal year, and the Disabled/Displaced (Lexie's Law) corporate credit (§ 43-1184) at $6,000,000 a fiscal year. Both are pre-approved by the Department of Revenue first-come, first-served, through the STO. Low-income scholarships go to children whose family income is at or below 185% of the income limit for reduced-price lunch (§ 43-1504). Disabled/Displaced scholarships can't exceed the lesser of tuition or 90% of the state aid the student would generate (§ 43-1505).

Coming from homeschool: the Switcher and low-income scholarships require the student to meet a prerequisite, and one of them is being homeschooled before enrolling in a qualified private school (§§ 43-1603 and 43-1504). Another is having been in an ESA and not renewing it in order to take the scholarship.

Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (IRC § 25F): starting January 1, 2027, the federal law allows a credit of up to

,700 per taxpayer for gifts to scholarship granting organizations in states that elect to take part. As of November 13, 2026, Arizona is not on the IRS list of states participating for 2027. The Governor vetoed SB 1106 on January 16, 2026 (a federal tax conformity bill whose Senate version also made the state's election to participate) and vetoed SB 1142, a stand-alone opt-in bill, on April 13, 2026, writing that it was "irresponsible to sign this bill before the federal government has released any regulatory guidance." No later state decision was found on the Governor's site as of November 13, 2026.

Read the full section in our Arizona guide

Official sources

Summarized from our Arizona guide (as of November 2026) and articles. Rules change — confirm on the official pages before you act.

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