Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) — A Guide for Homeschool Families
Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) is Texas's education savings account program, created by Senate Bill 2 in 2025 and overseen by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Odyssey helps administer the program as its certified educational assistance organization.
Overseen by
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
Helps administer
Odyssey (the program's certified educational assistance organization)
Homeschool amount (2026–27)
Up to ,000 per student
Private school amount (2026–27)
0,474 per student
Students with disabilities (2026–27)
Up to $30,000 with a current IEP — most receive less
2027–28
2026–27 applications closed; a 2027–28 interest list is open
How TEFA works for homeschool families
For the 2026–27 school year, homeschooled students may receive up to
,000. Money left at the end of the school year rolls over as long as the child stays in the program.
Families use their account with participating schools and education vendors, and Odyssey helps administer the program under the Comptroller's oversight. Funds may not be used to pay a family member.
What the money can pay for
The official site lists these approved expenses (private-school tuition, uniforms and meals are also covered for private-school students):
Textbooks and other instructional materials
Private tutoring
Tuition and fees for online educational courses or programs, higher-education providers, and TEA-approved industry-credential programs
Educational therapies not covered by government benefits such as Medicaid
Academic assessments
Computer hardware or software — no more than 10% of the amount deposited in the account that year
Transportation to and from approved providers
Before you buy
Check that the vendor participates in TEFA — the official finder tool lists participating schools and education services.
Remember the 10% technology cap when you plan a computer or software purchase.
Rules and amounts are set each year. Confirm anything important on the official site before you spend.
For vendors: getting TEFA approved
Vendors apply through Odyssey, and applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Approved vendors must have the right to transact business in Texas, agree to the program's requirements and meet its other eligibility criteria — read the full requirements on the official providers page before applying.
Listing on My Learning Source is separate from TEFA approval — you don't need one to have the other, and families find you here either way.
Homeschooling in Texas: the basics
Legal basis: Texas treats home schools as private schools. TEA says home schooling has been a legal alternative to public schooling since 1994. In Leeper et al. v. Arlington ISD et al., the Texas Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision that children taught at home are exempt from compulsory attendance to the same extent as private school students. The exemption is for a child who "attends a private or parochial school that includes in its course a study of good citizenship" (Tex. Educ. Code § 25.086(a)(1)). The Legislature has also written that "a home school is a private school" into the law on UIL participation (§ 33.0832(b)).
What's required: parents who home school must follow a course of study that includes good citizenship. A district that learns a student may be home schooled may ask the parents, in writing, for a letter of assurance. That letter may ask you to confirm that your curriculum is designed to meet basic education goals including reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and a study of good citizenship. You don't have to send one every year (TEA Commissioner's letter, July 11, 2019).
No state oversight: TEA says it does not regulate, index, monitor, approve, register or accredit home school programs. Neither TEA's home schooling page nor the Commissioner's letter sets a state notice, testing or reporting requirement. Texas does not award a diploma to home-schooled students.
Leaving public school: the school should withdraw your child when it gets written notice, either signed withdrawal forms or a letter of withdrawal. You don't have to meet with school officials, show them your curriculum, or meet any other requirement. A signed, dated letter saying your child is being home schooled and the date home schooling began is enough for the school's records. Whether compulsory attendance has been violated is for the district or local judicial authorities to decide (TEA Commissioner's letter, July 11, 2019).
PSAT and AP tests: districts must let home-school students take the PSAT and Advanced Placement tests they give enrolled students. They must post the test dates, that home-school students are eligible, and how to register, at the same time they tell their own students (Tex. Educ. Code § 29.916).
Returning to public school: your child can enter public school at any time. Most districts assess what home-schooled students have mastered, and the results may set grade placement, credit or both. Students coming from a home school must be treated the same as students from unaccredited private schools (19 TAC § 74.26(a)(2)). Credit can be based on a review of your child's curriculum and work, or on tests. Whether to test is a local decision. TEA recommends a norm-referenced test or a released STAAR test for elementary students, and credit by exam or released STAAR end-of-course tests for secondary students, with the 70% standard for courses already taken (19 TAC § 74.24(c)). Ask your district for its placement policy.
Colleges: Texas considers successful completion of a home school education equivalent to graduating from a public high school. Texas colleges must hold home-school graduates to the same general standards, including test score requirements, as public high school graduates (Tex. Educ. Code § 51.9241). From 2026 fall admissions, colleges that sort by class rank must assign home-school applicants a rank based on their test scores (see "Dual credit and college aid").
Dual credit and college aid
Dual credit: since the 2025 fall semester, Texas public colleges must apply the same criteria and conditions to every high school student who wants a dual credit course, whether the student attends a public, private or parochial school, including a home school. A student at a school that isn't formally organized as a high school counts as attending a high school once they are at least 16 (Tex. Educ. Code § 51.9675, added by HB 3041 in 2025). Coordinating Board rules that took effect May 13, 2026 define a home school as a private school that gives secondary instruction "in a bona fide manner from curriculum designed to meet basic education goals" at or through the child's home (19 TAC § 4.83). A home-school student who is at least 16 can take dual credit if they meet the Texas Success Initiative college-readiness standards, are exempt from TSI, or meet the Texas First Diploma requirements (19 TAC § 4.85(b)).
Agreements: a college that has dual credit agreements with school districts, charter schools or private schools must also accept or offer one with a home school. It can't deny, delay or obstruct an agreement because the school is a home school, or add conditions it doesn't apply to other schools. It must treat the home school as having the same signing authority as a private high school. Final decisions on agreements stay with the college. If the usual way a course is offered isn't reasonably open to your student, the college may offer the same course online or in a hybrid format (19 TAC §§ 4.84(d), 4.85). Ask the college's dual credit office for its home-school agreement.
Who pays: the state's Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) program makes eligible dual credit courses free, including books, for educationally disadvantaged students. The Coordinating Board limits it to students taking dual credit at a public school district or charter school, so it doesn't list home-school students. Each college's dual credit agreement must name who pays tuition, fees, books and transportation (19 TAC § 4.84). Costs vary by college. Austin Community College, for example, says eligible courses are free for all students living in its service area for up to 60 credit hours, but students buy their own textbooks and materials. Ask each college what home-school students pay.
TEXAS Grant: starting with aid for the 2026 fall semester, home-school graduates can qualify for the state's main need-based grant (Tex. Educ. Code § 56.3041, as amended by HB 3041). The student must be a Texas resident, have completed the foundation high school program or its equivalent, and meet at least two of these: the IB diploma course requirements or at least 12 semester credit hours of college credit earned in high school; the TSI college-readiness benchmarks or an exemption; the top third of their class or at least a 3.0 GPA; or an advanced math course after Algebra II, or an advanced career and technical or technology applications course. They must also show financial need, enroll for at least three-fourths of a full course load within 16 months of graduating, and apply for any available financial aid. A home-school graduate's official transcript or diploma must include the information state law requires (§ 56.308(d)). Ask the college's financial aid office what your transcript needs to show.
Class rank and top-10% rules: from 2026 fall admissions, a public college that sorts applicants by class rank must assign a home-school applicant a rank. It finds the median college entrance exam score for each class rank among other applicants, gives your student the highest rank whose median their score meets, and posts those medians on its website (Tex. Educ. Code § 51.9241(d)–(e)). Universities use the same method when they decide whether a home-school applicant qualifies for automatic admission by class rank. The University of Texas at Austin instead uses a benchmark test score for home-school applicants in that process (§ 51.803(a-1), (m)). A state scholarship for top-10% students and valedictorians who also get a TEXAS Grant now includes home-school graduates, with rank calculated the same way (§ 56.484). These rules are new, so ask each admissions office how it applies them.
Sports, driver's licenses and special education
Sports and other UIL activities: Texas public schools that take part in UIL must give home-schooled students the chance to take part in the same manner as enrolled students, unless the district's school board (or a charter school's governing body) adopts a policy to opt out (Tex. Educ. Code § 33.0832(c), (c-2), as amended by SB 401 in 2025). UIL calls this current law for 2026–27. Your student plays for the school they would attend based on your home address, and you must show proof of residency the district accepts. If that school has opted out, your student may play for the closest school, by campus, that allows home-school students; you can't pick a different one (§ 33.0832(e), (e-1)). For 2026–27, a board had to opt out by August 1, 2026, and UIL posts a list of districts that told it they opted out. Ask your district where it stands.
To be eligible during the first six weeks of a school year, your student must score in the average or higher range on a nationally recognized, norm-referenced test. A passing result counts for that school year and the next. After the first six weeks, you give the school written verification, on its grading calendar, that your student is passing each course (§ 33.0832(f)–(h)). The school's rules on registration, age, fees, insurance, transportation, physical condition and behavior apply. UIL rules apply too, including the 15-day rule and a Previous Athletic Participation Form. A student who was enrolled in public school earlier in the same school year can't use this law for the rest of that year. UIL says limits on numbers or on certain activities are a local district decision.
Driver's license: Texas teens under 18 who don't have a diploma or GED must give DPS a Verification of Enrollment and Attendance (VOE) form (Tex. Transp. Code § 521.204). The DPS form has a box for home schools. The school marks it and issues the form to a student who is currently enrolled and met the 90 percent attendance rule in each class last semester, earned credit in all courses, or met conditions the school set. The school's administrator or designee signs it, and a parent signs a permission section. Whether to issue a VOE is the school's decision alone; neither DPS nor TEA can change it. A VOE issued during the school year expires after 30 days, so get it shortly before your DPS visit. DPS and TDLR list a 90-day window in June through August. In summer, a still-enrolled student can bring their last report card with full name, absences and grades instead.
Parent-taught driver education is run by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). A student under 18 must have been enrolled in a public, home or private school for at least the past 80 days and be making satisfactory progress. The parent applies online for instructor authorization: the fee is 0 (as posted November 2026), not refundable, with a separate application for each child. You buy the course from a licensed driver education provider with the parent-taught endorsement. The course is 24 hours of classroom instruction, 7 hours of observation, 7 hours behind the wheel, and 30 more hours of practice, at least 10 of them at night. Instructors need an excellent driving history, can't have certain criminal convictions, and can't hold a license with a B restriction; DPS checks the instructor's record when the student applies for each license. DPS issues learner licenses at ages 15 to 17 after the required classroom hours, and a provisional license at 16 or 17 after six months with a learner license and the Impact Texas Teen Driver program.
Special education: district child find covers home-schooled children. For special education, TEA counts a home school as a private school if it provides education using an adopted curriculum designed to meet basic educational goals, including scope and sequence of courses and formal review and documentation of student progress (19 TAC § 89.1096). If yours does, the district where the home school is located must evaluate your child at no cost once you give written consent, within 45 school days (Tex. Educ. Code § 29.004). If you refuse consent, the district can't use due process to override you. Children in this group have no individual right to the services they would get in public school, but they can receive equitable services through a services plan paid from the district's share of federal IDEA money. TEA calls a home school that doesn't meet the definition an "educational site," and then your district of residence does the evaluation.
TEFA and disabilities: the larger TEFA amount for a child with a disability requires a public school evaluation and an admission, review and dismissal (ARD) committee finding that your child has an IDEA disability and needs special education. A private evaluation or a doctor's note can help with TEFA prioritization, but alone it doesn't qualify your child for the extra funding. Tell the district you want an "EFA IEP" for TEFA purposes. It is used only to set funding, and neither the public school nor a private school has to carry it out. A child who got special education services from a public school in the last three school years, or was found eligible in an evaluation in the last three years, may be able to use that record. TEA's guidance was last updated January 29, 2026. If you have trouble with your district, TEA suggests emailing sped@tea.texas.gov.
My Learning Source is an independent marketplace. We are not affiliated with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Texas Education Freedom Accounts or Odyssey, and a listing here does not mean a vendor is TEFA-approved.
As of September 2026.
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