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🎓 South Carolina School Choice, ESAs & Scholarships

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

Overseen by	South Carolina Department of Education, under the Education Scholarship Trust Fund law (S.C. Code §59-8-110 and following, rewritten by 2025 Act No. 11). The money is held in a trust fund managed by a trustee the State Superintendent appoints.
Administered by	SCDE, with ClassWallet running each student's digital wallet. Families pay approved providers with "Pay Vendor" or shop the ClassWallet Marketplace. There is no reimbursement, and money is never paid to parents.
Amount per student, 2026–27	$7,634 ($7,500 in 2025–26), deposited in four payments of ,908.50 on or before July 31, September 30 and December 31, 2026 and February 28, 2027. By law the amount rises each year with average state per-pupil funding unless the budget sets another figure. Unused money rolls over while the student stays eligible.
Who is eligible	South Carolina residents in grades K–12 who were 5 by September 1 (or had a scholarship the year before), haven't graduated and are under 22, from households at or below 500% of the federal poverty guidelines ( 60,750 for a family of four on the 2025 guidelines). The student can't be enrolled full-time in their zoned public school, can't get an Exceptional SC scholarship the same year, and can't be homeschooled under Option 1, 2 or 3.
Application window / next dates	2026–27 reached its 15,000-student cap and closed; families can join the waitlist to get 2027–28 updates. By law, each year's early window for current students and their siblings opens November 1, followed by a priority window and then a general window. SCDE says 2027–28 renewals start processing in November 2026. New-applicant dates for 2027–28 haven't been posted.
Homeschool status	Students homeschooled under S.C. Code §59-65-40, 59-65-45 or 59-65-47 (Options 1–3) are not eligible. A family that leaves its homeschool option for the ESTF can still teach at home: the parent's signed ESTF agreement satisfies compulsory attendance (§59-8-115(H)).

What ESTF money can pay for

The qualifying expenses are listed in S.C. Code §59-8-110(14). SCDE's 2026–27 Participant Guide turns them into an approved-expense list with limits. Highlights:

Tuition and fees at an approved independent school, and at an approved nonpublic online provider or course (math, English, science, social studies, foreign language and similar subjects)
Textbooks, curriculum and instructional materials in math, English, science (including coding and engineering), social studies, foreign language, art and music; reading books; school supplies for the student's own use (art supplies up to $500 a year)
Tutoring from an approved provider in those same subjects, including music and art
Educational therapies from a licensed provider: ABA, speech, physical, occupational and vision therapy, and dyslexia and dysgraphia therapies, plus initial evaluation fees and required therapy equipment
Computers and tablets up to
,000 each and monitors and printers up to $300 each, one of each every two academic years (no gaming computers or 3D printers); headphones up to
00 a year; calculators up to
00 a year
Fees for national norm-referenced tests, AP exams, industry certification exams and college admission exams, plus test-prep classes
Classes, after-school tutoring, extracurricular fees and out-of-district fees from a public school district other than the student's zoned school, and fee-for-service transportation up to $3,000 a year (invoiced separately)
Required school uniforms, up to $500 a year
Not approved: food, field trips, fundraising, graduation and child care fees

Read the full section in our South Carolina guide

Before you apply or buy

Join the waitlist now. The 2026–27 program is full, and SCDE says registering on the ESTF site's waitlist makes sure you get updates on the 2027–28 application.
Know the order. Current ESTF students and their siblings apply first (the law opens that window November 1). Next comes a priority window for active-duty military families stationed in South Carolina, households at or below 300% of the poverty level, and students who attended public school the year before. Everyone else up to 500% of the poverty level comes last. For 2026–27 the windows were November 1 – January 14, January 15 – February 8, and from February 9.
Have documents ready: proof of guardianship, proof of South Carolina residency, and proof of income (pages 1 and 2 of IRS Form 1040, or records of non-taxable income), plus military orders or a prior-year public school report card if you're claiming priority for those.
Leave your homeschool option before the ESTF year starts. You can't be in Option 1, 2 or 3 and the ESTF in the same school year.
Pay inside ClassWallet only. There is no reimbursement and you can't deposit your own money. Providers need an invoice showing the provider's name and address, the student and parent names, invoice and service dates, the type of service and the total. New families can only pay for services on or after July 1 of the award year. Computer and device purchases wait until initial enrollment verification is complete.
Plan for testing. SCDE's FAQ says ESTF students in grades 3–11 must test each year: SC READY/SC PASS, a nationally norm-referenced test such as the Iowa, or an approved formative test given three times a year such as MAP. High schoolers may use the ACT, SAT or PSAT instead. Report results with the ESTF Testing Report Form. The law's testing section (S.C. Code §59-8-150) covers grades 3 through 12, so ask SCDE what it expects of a 12th grader.
If your child has a disability, choosing the ESTF is a parental placement under federal special education law (IDEA), and nonpublic providers don't have to offer the services a public school would. SCDE posts a notice of parent rights on the ESTF site.
Amounts, dates and rules change. Confirm anything important on the ESTF program site or with ClassWallet support (877-313-1299).

Read the full section in our South Carolina guide

Exceptional SC: for students with exceptional needs

South Carolina's other program is the Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children (S.C. Code §12-6-3790). Exceptional SC, a nonprofit scholarship fund, awards scholarships of up to

1,000 a year (or the school's tuition, if less) toward tuition, transportation and textbooks at an eligible private school. Students must be South Carolina residents eligible to attend public school, with an exceptional need documented by a licensed medical professional or school records (such as an IEP, ISP or multidisciplinary team report) dated within the past three years. The 2026–27 application ran from noon June 1 to September 30, 2026. Awards go by incumbency and available funding, not first-come-first-served.

Parents who pay that tuition themselves can apply to the South Carolina Department of Revenue for a refundable tax credit of up to

1,000 per student (or tuition paid, if less), minus any Exceptional SC scholarship. It is first-come, first-served under a statewide cap; for tax year 2025 the cap was raised to $5 million and has been met.

Neither option pays for homeschooling: both are tied to tuition at an eligible private school. A family can't have Exceptional SC and the ESTF in the same school year.

Read the full section in our South Carolina guide

Other South Carolina programs: college scholarships, dual enrollment and sports

LIFE Scholarship: South Carolina's lottery-funded LIFE Scholarship is open to students who completed a high school home school program in South Carolina "in the manner required by law" (S.C. Code §59-149-50). At a four-year college it pays up to $5,000 a year, tuition plus a $300 book allowance (CHE LIFE regulation, June 2025). An entering freshman at a four-year college must meet two of three tests: a 3.0 GPA on the state's Uniform Grading Policy, an 1100 SAT (or equivalent ACT), or top-30% class rank. A homeschool association that doesn't rank must use GPA plus SAT/ACT, and the regulation lists a 22 ACT as the equivalent for those students. At a two-year or technical college, only the 3.0 GPA is needed. A graduate of a homeschool association that isn't state-approved can still earn LIFE after the first year of college with a 3.0 college GPA and 30 credit hours. Homeschool seniors should ask their association to report GPA and rank on the Uniform Grading Policy.

Palmetto Fellows and HOPE: the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship (up to $6,700 as a freshman and $7,500 a year after, the maximums in CHE's May 2026 Palmetto Fellows regulation) is open to students in an approved home school program. Applications go through the homeschool administrator, the way a school counselor handles them for other students. Early-award criteria are a 1200 SAT (or equivalent ACT), a 3.50 GPA and top-6% class rank, or a 1400 SAT and a 4.00 GPA without rank. Rank can only be used through an association that officially ranks its members (CHE Palmetto Fellows regulation, May 2026). The SC HOPE Scholarship is a one-year freshman award for four-year students who don't qualify for LIFE or Palmetto Fellows.

Read the full section in our South Carolina guide

Articles for South Carolina families

Homeschool Option or ESTF? Two Legal Ways to Teach at Home in South Carolina, and Why Not Both
South Carolina families homeschooling under Option 1, 2 or 3 can't use the Education Scholarship Trust Fund. But a family can leave its option and teach at home under the ESTF agreement, which itself…
South Carolina's Education Scholarship Trust Fund in Plain English: Who Qualifies, What It Pays, How It Works
The Education Scholarship Trust Fund is South Carolina's education savings account. For 2026-27 it is worth $7,634 per student, it is capped at 15,000 students, and it is full. Here is who qualifies…

Official sources

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

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