Texas Education Freedom Accounts

Education savings account run by Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Last updated October 17, 2026

Official pages: Apply or sign up What the money can buy Approved vendors

Free during the beta. Record your award, deposits, purchases and receipts, see what each category needs, and print a family record of it. Corral never connects to the program portal, never asks for its password, and never moves money.

Following puts its announced application dates on your My Homeschool page. Email about it is a separate choice.

Homeschool students

On the application the parent chose the "homeschool/other" educational setting, which sets the award at $2,000. After an award, the parent opts in and selects Homeschool in the Odyssey portal, and the full $2,000 then arrives in one installment. The child must not be enrolled in a public or charter school. Homeschool students are not required to take an assessment. Setting changes after the window can only lower funding (private school to homeschool/other). [S3]

Who can apply

• Child is a U.S. citizen or national or was lawfully admitted to the United States. [S5]
• Child is eligible to attend a Texas school district or open-enrollment charter school (including children of active-duty military), or is eligible for public pre-K under Education Code 29.153 (narrower pre-K criteria apply). [S5]
• Parent is a Texas resident. Residency is proven with a utility bill, lease/mortgage statement, driver license/state ID, voter registration certificate, government letter, or notarized affidavit of residency, and military families can use orders. [S3]
• Child is not enrolled in a public school or open-enrollment charter school (including its pre-K) while participating, and has not graduated from high school. [S6]
• The application had to include household income documentation (a 2024 or 2025 Form 1040 on which the child is claimed), used for priority tiers. [S3]
• Participation continues until the child graduates, becomes ineligible to attend public school, enrolls in a public/charter school counted in average daily attendance, or is declared ineligible. Parents must notify Odyssey (the program administrator) within 30 business days after the child enrolls in a public or charter school, graduates, or is no longer eligible. [S5]

How much

Homeschool/other students: $2,000 for the 2026-27 school year. State law caps a home-schooled student at $2,000 a school year, and the Comptroller rule applies this cap to any participant not enrolled in an approved private school or approved private pre-K/K provider. Some program pages say "up to" or "may be eligible to receive" $2,000. For comparison, private school students get $10,474 (2026-27), and private school students with an IEP on file with TEA get up to $30,000. A homeschool award cannot be combined with the disability add-on.

How it's paid: Homeschool/other students receive 100% of the award in one installment, on July 1, 2026 if they opted in by June 15, or mid-August if they opted in by July 31. Later waitlist awards are funded as soon as practicable. Private school students are paid 25% July 1, 25% Oct 1 and 50% Feb 1, 2027. The statutory minimum schedule is 1/4 by July 1, 1/2 by Oct 1 and the rest by April 1. Funds sit in an Odyssey account (digital wallet) and are spent only through the marketplace/portal.

Left over at year end: Unused money carries forward to the next program year as long as the child remains eligible, the parent has given notice of continued participation, and the child has not been declared ineligible. The account is closed and the balance returned to the state when the child leaves the program.

Dates

Spending

All spending goes through the program marketplace (Odyssey) to preapproved vendors. The program does not reimburse purchases a parent makes elsewhere. [S3]

How Corral reads each kind of purchase for this program. These are starting points from the program’s own lists, not decisions: the program approves or denies each purchase.

Allowed, as the program lists it

• Tuition and fees for a private school, a higher education provider, an online educational course or program, or a program that provides training for a TEA-approved industry-based credential (the Odyssey guidance describes the higher-education item as a dual-credit course). [S5]
• Textbooks and instructional materials. The statute says materials "required by a private school, higher education provider, or course in which the child is enrolled"; the Comptroller rule (34 TAC §16.406(3)) lists "textbooks and instructional materials" with no such qualifier. The Odyssey marketplace lists curriculum, workbooks, books, STEM kits, manipulatives, art and school supplies, and more as offering categories. [S6]
• Uniforms required by a private school, higher education provider, or course in which the child is enrolled. [S5]
• Fees for classes or other educational services from a school district or open-enrollment charter school, if they do not count the child in the school's average daily attendance. [S5]
• Costs related to academic assessments. [S5]
• Fees for a private tutor or teaching service. The provider must be an approved vendor and pass the background check, and each lead educator must be a current or retired employee of an accredited school or college, or hold a relevant credential such as an active teaching license from Texas or another state, a Texas school district teaching permit, an educator accreditation or method certification, or a degree or professional license related to the subject. An active teaching certificate is one option, not a requirement. [S24]
• Fees for a fee-for-service transportation provider for travel to and from a preapproved provider or vendor. [S5]
• Educational therapies or services from a practitioner or provider, only for fees not covered by government benefits (e.g., Medicaid, CHIP) or the child's private insurance. [S5]
• Computer hardware, software and other technological devices required by a provider or vendor or prescribed by a physician, limited to 10% of the amount transferred to the account that year. [S5]
• Breakfast or lunch provided by a private school during the school day (not applicable to homeschool students). [S5]

Not allowed

• Paying any person related to the program participant within the third degree by consanguinity or affinity. [S5]
• Withdrawing cash or removing funds from the account, or receiving payment or reimbursement directly from the program. [S5]
• Selling any item purchased with program money. [S5]
• Purchases outside the program marketplace are not reimbursed, and no school, provider or vendor may rebate, refund, credit or share program money with the parent or child. [S3]
• Any expense not on the approved list, or a purchase from a provider or vendor that is not preapproved; money spent this way can be recovered from the parent or the vendor. [S5]
• Transferring funds to another child. [S11]

Category limits

• Technology (laptops, tablets, desktops, monitors, headphones, cameras, webcams, printers, 3D printers, computer accessories, calculators, internet hot spots, software) is limited in total to 10%. The program’s Families page says 10% of the total amount transferred to the child’s account that year. 3D printers are also limited to 1 purchase per year. [S21]
• The program administrator’s help center describes the same limit as 10% of the student’s annual award. When the full award has been transferred, the two readings give the same figure ($200 on a $2,000 homeschool award); when less has been transferred, the transfer-based limit is lower. Corral’s check uses the amount transferred, the lower of the two, and shows “cannot determine yet” until a deposit is recorded. Ask the program which applies before relying on it. [S9]
• Musical instruments: price cap of $1,200 (marketplace purchase restriction published by Odyssey). [S9]

Receipts and records

All purchases are made through the Comptroller-approved payment system (the Odyssey marketplace / parent portal), and there is no receipt-based reimbursement. Parents must agree to give the Comptroller's contracted auditor or the State Auditor any information or documentation related to a program transaction. No separate parent receipt-upload rule was found.

Approval before buying

Providers and vendors must be preapproved by the Comptroller, and each vendor offering is reviewed before it appears in the marketplace. The CEAO (Odyssey) checks every purchase request against the approved-expense list and the account balance before paying the vendor. No separate per-item parent preapproval process was found. Marketplace purchases over a category restriction may not be approved.

Vendors

Marketplace only. Funds can be spent only with Comptroller-preapproved providers/vendors through Odyssey, and Odyssey pays the vendor directly within 10 business days after it verifies the request. There are no reimbursements to parents and no cash withdrawals. Vendors must be registered to do business in Texas (providers must be located in Texas), and online or out-of-state providers can take part if approved. Vendors apply on a rolling basis.

Four separate questions: is the vendor approved by the program, is the kind of purchase allowed, does this item meet the program’s conditions, and did the program approve the claim. A yes to one is not a yes to the others.

Family members as vendors

Account money may not be used to pay anyone related to the participating child within the third degree by consanguinity or affinity (Gov't Code ch. 573). A payment to an entity is allowed unless the entity is a sole proprietorship owned by the relative or a partnership in which the relative is a partner (34 TAC §16.404(k)), so a parent cannot pay themselves to teach.

Links

• Apply or join the interest list (educationfreedom.texas.gov)
• What you can buy (support.withodyssey.com)
• Approved vendors (finder.educationfreedom.texas.gov)
• Help: Odyssey support: https://support.withodyssey.com/hc/en-us/categories/44027751004699-Texas-Education-Freedom-Accounts-Program; phone 737-379-2362; [email protected]; program questions: Texas Comptroller, [email protected]

Questions to ask the program

The official sources don’t settle these. Ask Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts before you count on them:

• Is the homeschool award always the full $2,000, or can it be less, for example if we were awarded from the waitlist after September 15? Official pages word the amount differently, and the late-award reduction rules are described in more than one way.
• Can we use the account for general homeschool curriculum that isn't required by a particular school or course? The law and the Comptroller's rule word the instructional-materials rule differently.
• Is the 10% technology limit based on the money actually deposited in our account this year or on the full award, and does a device have to be required by a vendor or prescribed by a doctor? The program site says money transferred, the administrator's help center says the annual award, and the law adds a 'required by' condition.
• Can my child use this account alongside other help, such as public school special education services? Official sources only clearly rule out public or charter school enrollment.

Sources

1. [S1] Texas Education Freedom Accounts - Home (official program site run by the Texas Comptroller) · Funding; Timeline; FAQ · checked October 6, 2026
2. [S2] Families - Texas Education Freedom Accounts · Prioritization; Eligibility and Participation; Approved Expenses; FAQ · checked October 6, 2026
3. [S3] TEFA Parent Application Guide · Educational Setting (p. 7-8); Program Timeline (p. 6); Attestations (p. 12-13) · dated February 12, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
4. [S4] Texas Education Freedom Account Application Deadline Extended Through March 31 (Comptroller news release) · News release · dated March 17, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
5. [S5] S.B. No. 2, 89th Legislature (enrolled) - adds Education Code Chapter 29, Subchapter J (Secs. 29.351-29.374) · Sec. 29.361(b-1) · dated 2025 · checked October 6, 2026
6. [S6] 34 TAC Chapter 16, Subchapter E, Education Savings Account Program, §§16.401-16.410 (adopted rules, Texas Register, Dec. 12, 2025) · §16.407(b) · dated December 15, 2025 · checked October 6, 2026
7. [S7] TEFA Funding Timeline and Installments (Odyssey support center, program administrator) · Homeschool/Other Funding Schedule; Waitlist Funding and Proration · dated September 16, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
8. [S8] TEFA Parent Funding Information (Odyssey support center) · When Will Funding Be Available? · dated June 30, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
9. [S9] What Are the Purchase Restrictions for TEFA? (Odyssey support center) · Purchase Restrictions · dated October 5, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
10. [S10] What are Eligible Educational Expenses for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) Program? (Odyssey support center) · Eligible expenses list · dated September 2, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
11. [S11] What Happens if I Don't Use All the Funds? (Odyssey support center) · Article · dated July 27, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
12. [S12] 26/27 Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) Waitlist FAQ (Odyssey support center) · Proration; waitlist · dated September 16, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
13. [S13] Contact Us - Texas Education Freedom Accounts · Contact Us · checked October 6, 2026
14. [S14] Providers and Vendors - Texas Education Freedom Accounts · Providers and Vendors · checked October 6, 2026
15. [S15] Texas Comptroller announces Texas Education Freedom Accounts as program name, selects implementation partner (Comptroller news release) · News release · dated October 6, 2025 · checked October 6, 2026
16. [S16] Comptroller Don Huffines Announces 100,000 Students Receiving Texas Education Freedom Accounts (Comptroller news release) · News release · dated August 13, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
17. [S17] Over 4,500 Additional TEFA Awards Issued to Tier 3 Students (TEFA News & Updates) · News post · dated August 28, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
18. [S18] Are There Testing and Reporting Requirements for Students? (Odyssey support center) · Article · dated June 17, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
19. [S19] What Amount of Funding Will be Available for Participating Children? (Odyssey support center) · Article · dated August 12, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
20. [S20] TEFA Participants Fact Sheet (Oct. 1, 2026) · Fact sheet · dated October 1, 2026 · checked October 6, 2026
21. [S21] Families - Texas Education Freedom Accounts · Approved Expenses · checked October 6, 2026
22. [S22] Families - Texas Education Freedom Accounts · FAQ: When can families apply? · checked October 6, 2026
23. [S23] Texas Education Freedom Accounts - Home (official program site run by the Texas Comptroller) · Timeline: Parent Application · checked October 6, 2026
24. [S24] Educator Credential Policy (TEFA News & Updates) · Lead educator requirement; Acceptable educator credentials · dated July 7, 2026 · checked October 9, 2026

Last updated October 17, 2026 · rule version 5 · next check by November 15, 2026. Found something out of date? Tell us.