My Learning Source Arkansas › Homeschooling in Arkansas › Arkansas Education Freedom Accounts (EFA) — A Guide for Homeschool Families

Arkansas Education Freedom Accounts (EFA) — A Guide for Homeschool Families

Arkansas Education Freedom Accounts (EFA) fund approved educational expenses — including homeschool curriculum, tutoring and educational therapies. The program is run by the Arkansas Department of Education's Office of School Choice and Parent Empowerment, and families use their funds through ClassWallet.

How EFA works for homeschool families

For 2026–27 the Arkansas Department of Education set funding at $7,208 per student, or $8,011 for Succeed Scholarship students. These are net amounts after transaction fees, paid in quarterly disbursements.

Funds are held in ClassWallet. From there families can pay a linked private school or microschool, pay a vendor, or request reimbursement for an eligible purchase by uploading proof of purchase (the purchase date, vendor name and an itemized description with prices). The department says reimbursements typically arrive within 14 business days, and can take longer at the start of a quarter.

What the money can pay for

The department lists these eligible expenses for 2026–27:

• Curricula and instructional materials
• Tutoring services
• Testing
• Supplemental supplies
• Specific technology devices
• Transportation costs
• Fees for college courses
• Tuition, fees and uniforms
• The program's main page also names homeschool curriculum and educational therapies

Before you buy

• If an expense isn't on the list, ask the Office of School Choice and Parent Empowerment before you spend.
• Keep itemized receipts — reimbursement requests need the date, vendor and a line-item description with costs.
• The program has testing requirements for participating students; read them on School Choice Arkansas.
• Amounts and rules are set each year. Confirm anything important on the official pages.

For providers and vendors: getting approved

The department recognizes three kinds of provider. Full-time student-facing providers (microschools, learning pods, online schools) and part-time student-facing providers (tutors, therapists, transportation) apply through the department's service-provider application and must meet its requirements — including background checks, and for tutors and full-time programs, proof of teaching credentials or subject expertise. Therapists need an active state license.

Non-student-facing vendors, such as uniform or school supply sellers, do not need to apply as service providers.

Listing on My Learning Source is separate from EFA approval — families find you here either way.

Homeschooling in Arkansas: the basics

• What a home school is: a school a parent or legal guardian provides for their own child (6 CAR § 33-102). Parents need no particular education. The state doesn't regulate your books, curriculum, online or correspondence programs, and you set your own schedule. DESE, school districts and education service cooperatives don't supply materials. You buy your own (6 CAR § 33-103(g)).
• Notice of intent: every year, file a notice of intent (NOI) with the superintendent of your resident school district. In it you agree that you are responsible for your child's education while you homeschool (Ark. Code § 6-15-503; 6 CAR § 33-103, § 33-104). The deadline is August 15. DESE's online system at noihs.ade.arkansas.gov is the preferred way to file, and for 2026–27 it opened June 1, 2026. You can also turn in a paper form at your district office, or send it by email, mail or fax. File one form per family. The form doesn't need to be notarized. You don't have to meet with the superintendent or give a reason for homeschooling.
• What the NOI asks: each child's name, sex, date of birth, grade and last school attended; your mailing address and phone; the parent's name; whether your child plans to join public school interscholastic activities or seek a high school equivalency (GED) diploma; and your signature. The 2026–27 form also has a Social Security number line for EFA participants only. Districts can't require anything beyond what the law requires. The NOI is confidential and not open to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (6 CAR § 33-104(f)–(h)).
• Leaving public school: filing the NOI doesn't withdraw your child, so contact the school to withdraw. If you file after August 15, the school may require a five-school-day wait before your child is released. The superintendent or school board can waive it, and the online form has a box to request a waiver (6 CAR § 33-103(a)). A student under school discipline can't switch to homeschool until the superintendent or board allows it, the discipline is finished or the semester ends (whichever comes first), or the student is expelled. A student holding school-issued items must return or pay for them, or wait until the semester ends (6 CAR § 33-103(b)–(e)).
• Moving or stopping: if you move to a new district during the year, give the new superintendent a copy of your current NOI within 30 calendar days (6 CAR § 33-104(e)). Tell your district if your address changes or you stop homeschooling. DESE also asks you to email the Home School Office at ADE.HomeSchool@ade.arkansas.gov if your family moves or your child goes back to public school. A child who enrolls in a public, private or parochial school can't return to homeschooling until you file a new NOI (6 CAR § 33-103(f)).
• Umbrella schools and online schools: a curriculum supplier may call itself a private or umbrella school and say you won't need to file an NOI. DESE calls that false. The duty to file depends on whether your child is educated in Arkansas, not on where your materials come from. Arkansas Connections Academy and Arkansas Virtual Academy are online public charter schools, and their students don't file an NOI. You must be an Arkansas resident to homeschool in the state.
• Testing: Act 832 of 2015 repealed homeschool testing. Homeschooled students who don't take EFA money don't have to take standardized tests. Students in the Education Freedom Account program must take a standardized test. On the NOI you can also sign up for a one-time state-funded PSAT (10th grade only) or ACT (11th grade only), AP exams (a fee may apply) or the ATLAS test. All are optional.
• Records and graduation: the law doesn't let DESE or your district review or monitor your child's work. DESE suggests keeping attendance records, a portfolio for each grade, grades for each subject and a transcript. The state gives homeschooled students no diploma or transcript and sets no graduation requirements, so you decide them. If you filed your NOI, the Home School Office can use it to write an official letter confirming your child's homeschool years and grade levels.
• Returning to public school: the school must give your child the same rights as other students. It can't deny course credits, grade placement, a diploma, activities, clubs or scholarships just because your child was homeschooled (Ark. Code § 6-15-504; 6 CAR § 33-105). Bring a transcript of courses and semester grades, plus a portfolio of curricula, tests and lessons completed. The school places your child at or above the home school level if you also have a score of at least the 30th percentile on a nationally recognized norm-referenced test from the past year. If you have no score, the school tests your child or waives the test. Otherwise the school decides placement and credits as it does for other transfer students, or you and the school can agree on them. A returning student must attend at least nine months right before graduation to get that school's diploma.
• The LEARNS Act and EFA: the LEARNS Act (Act 237 of 2023) created the Education Freedom Account program, and DESE says homeschool families can take part. LEARNS isn't on DESE's list of laws that changed home school rules. The laws listed since 2023 are Act 630 of 2023 and Acts 475 and 728 of 2025, all about sports and activities. The official pages we read don't say whether an EFA student counts as a home school student under the home school law. Ask the EFA office (501-683-1876, ade.efa@ade.arkansas.gov).
• Questions: call the DESE Home School Office at 501-683-3162 or email ADE.HomeSchool@ade.arkansas.gov.

Sports, activities and public school classes

Interscholastic activities: Arkansas law gives homeschooled students a way into public school interscholastic activities. These are athletics, fine arts programs and special-interest clubs that run under Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) rules (Ark. Code § 6-15-509; 6 CAR § 33-102, § 33-108). Check the interscholastic box on your notice of intent. At your resident school, tell the principal in writing before the signup, tryout or participation deadline set for enrolled students. Show that your child scored at least the 30th percentile on the Stanford Achievement Test, Tenth Edition, or another nationally recognized norm-referenced test in the past 12 months, or met a score on a test the State Board of Education approves. Your child must be enrolled in at least one class period or zero-hour activity within the first 11 days of the fall or spring semester. Your child must also meet the same tryout, conduct, practice, drug-testing, physical exam, permission slip and fee rules as enrolled students. Your child gets an equal chance to try out but is not promised a spot. The school can require your child to be at school only when other participants must be there, and it provides transportation to activities the way it does for other students.

Waiting periods and other districts: a homeschooled student can't play a varsity sport in the resident district if they withdrew from a varsity sport there in the previous 365 days. They can still join tryouts, practices and classes for the activity (Ark. Code § 6-15-509(h), as amended by Act 475 of 2025). With the superintendent's permission, a homeschooled student can also take part at a public school district other than the resident district. For athletics there, DESE says the student must be approved by June 1 of the school year the student will be in grades 7 to 10. A student who isn't approved by then can be ineligible for varsity athletics at an AAA member school for up to 365 days (Act 475 of 2025). A student who withdrew from a varsity sport at an AAA member school district in the previous 365 days isn't eligible. If your resident school doesn't offer an activity, the law lets your child join it at another district's school if that district's superintendent agrees (Act 630 of 2023). A homeschooled student can't take part in activities at more than one public school at the same time. For eligibility questions in grades 7 to 12, call the AAA at 501-955-2500. For grades K to 6, ask your local district.

Private schools: a private school may let a homeschooled student take part in its interscholastic activities. You notify the school's administrative head in writing before its deadlines and show the same 30th-percentile test score (Ark. Code § 6-15-510(b)). Act 728 of 2025 repealed the rule that the student live within 25 miles of the private school.

Public school classes: every public school district must adopt a policy that lets a homeschooled student who lives in the district enroll in one or more academic courses a semester at a public school (Ark. Code § 6-18-232; 6 CAR § 33-106). The policy may set rules on prerequisites, attendance, testing, coursework, grades and conduct, as long as they match the rules for enrolled students. It may also limit enrollment that would cause the district a financial loss or break a state or federal law or DESE rule. A district can ask DESE for a waiver from this requirement. The district may provide transportation. It must give a final grade and transcript for each course your child completes, and each course has a licensed or approved teacher of record. Your child isn't counted truant for missing a course, but the school can drop your child from it for excessive unexcused absences. The rule doesn't apply to statewide virtual charter schools. Field day, dances, prom and field trips are set by local policy and may be limited to full-time students, so ask your district.

Dual enrollment, college aid and driver's licenses

Concurrent credit: homeschooled high schoolers can take college courses that count for both college and high school credit. A public school district can't charge a homeschooled student for an endorsed concurrent enrollment course unless it also charges its own students (6 CAR § 33-106(e)(3), from Act 429 of 2019). An endorsed course is a college course in math, English, science or social studies that is listed in the Arkansas Course Transfer System (6 CAR § 33-102). The Arkansas Concurrent Challenge Scholarship has been repealed and replaced by the ACCESS to Acceleration (A2A) Scholarship. The Arkansas Division of Higher Education (ADHE) says A2A covers students in public, private and home schools in grades 9 to 12. It pays $65 per concurrent credit hour, for up to 15 hours a semester and no more than