No. Indiana ESA cannot be used if a student is enrolled at a traditional public or public charter school.  However, an eligible student with an Education Scholarship Account may use funds to purchase services from a traditional public or public charter school, such as courses, if the school has applied to participate with the program. The Indiana ESA can be used to cover any tuition or fees associated with these courses.

Yes, current non-public school students can apply to participate in the Indiana ESA program as long as they meet the eligibility and income requirements. The non-public school that will be accepting payments through the Indiana ESA account must apply and be approved as a participating provider.

No. While both options provide families with greater control over their student’s education, they are classified differently under Indiana code and subject to different regulations. In Indiana, homeschools are classified as nonpublic, non-accredited, with less than one employee and students are exempt from statewide assessments. Students who are approved for an ESA must take the statewide assessment or an alternative test as outlined in the student’s IEP/ISP, and must meet any program regulations approved by the state. For more information on home education, you may visit the Indiana Association of Home Educators at iahe.net.

Students may not be awarded the Choice Scholarship and the Education Scholarship Account for the same school year. However, if your child is a current recipient of the Choice Scholarship Award, you may apply for the Educational Scholarship Account.  If approved, your child will forfeit the Choice Scholarship and be able to use funds through an Indiana ESA account to purchase educational services and fees.  You may continue to use these funds for tuition and fees at a qualified school.

Students who participate in the program will receive 90% of their basic tuition support already allotted to the student by the state as well as 100% of special education dollars allotted to their student, if the student chooses not to receive special education services from their local public school.  This amount will vary by district and is based on your local public school district.

Scholarship funds will be deposited directly into each student’s Indiana ESA account in quarterly payments.  This account will be available to parents via a secure online portal, which they will use to make payments directly to providers from the student’s account. Debit cards are not used and funds are not deposited directly into personal bank accounts.

Funds must be used for qualified expenses through pre-approved Indiana ESA providers.  See below for a list of qualified expenses and types of providers available to participate.

If a parent would like to use Indiana ESA funds to make payments to a provider that is not currently on the Approved Providers List, the provider must first apply and be approved to participate. We are always looking for new providers to add to our program. Please send us their information via the Provider Contact Form for us to reach out to them.

While Indiana's Choice Scholarship can be used to cover tuition and fees at non-public, voucher-accepting schools, tuition and fees are just one type of qualified expense for an Indiana ESA student.  Any remaining funds after the cost of tuition and fees can be used on any pre-approved educational expenses, such as therapies and services.

Furthermore, instead of using the Indiana ESA funds at a non-public school, parents can instead opt to completely customize their child’s education through the use of tutors, therapies, services, and other pre-approved educational expenses, as long as the parent of the eligible student uses part of the money in the account in the following areas of study: reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies or science, or other area as determined in the student’s IEP, service plan or choice special education plan.

Students may not be awarded the Choice Scholarship and the Education Scholarship Account for the same school year. However, if your child is a current recipient of the Choice Scholarship Award, you may apply for the Educational Scholarship Account.  If approved, your child will not be able to use the Choice Scholarship and will be able to use funds through an Indiana ESA account to purchase educational services and fees.  You may continue to use these funds for tuition and fees at a qualified school.

The team at Indiana's Education Scholarship Account Program knows that your child's education is important to you. We also know that choosing a new school can be difficult. That's why we've created a list of questions you can ask the leadership team at the non-public school you are interviewing. Click the link below to access the pdf document. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list and you may add or take away any questions that you feel relevant.

Parent Questionnaire - English

Cuestionario para padres - Español

Yes! However, Medicaid waivers and Indiana ESA have some overlap in qualified expenses so you will want to speak with both your ESA Account Specialist and your Medicaid Case Manager in order to ensure that you are using both programs to the fullest extent. Please note that the same expense cannot be billed to both your ESA account and your Medicaid waiver. A flyer with more information regarding both programs can be found below.

Indiana ESA & Medicaid Waivers - English

Indiana ESA & Medicaid Waiver - Español

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) is responsible for creating IEPs and ISPs. For assistance in navigating this process, email insource@insource.org. IN*SOURCE provides high quality information, training, and support to families of children and young adults with disabilities and the individuals and organizations who serve them. Upon emailing IN*SOURCE, a ticket will be created for the family's local SEL (Special Education Liaison) or they will be added to a call sheet to reach out to within 24 hours for general assistance. If the family needs ongoing assistance, they will be connected with their local SEL. Additionally, they created a live chat feature which is answered from 9-6 each day including for families who need a bi-lingual SEL.

To contact the IDOE directly, email kvankirk@doe.in.gov or call (317) 232-3262

If you have a business with employees and you plan to invoice families for services those employees provide, apply as a business entity. If you are an individual with a business that is licensed in the state of Indiana and do not currently have employees but plan on hiring in the future, apply as a business entity. Individuals who are providing services not in accordance with a business should apply as an individual.  Ask yourself, "Do I work for a business that has an LLC or articles of incorporation or do I provide services under my own license?". If you provide services under your own license, apply as an individual.

Providers are individuals or entities who provide services to students. Participating Entities are providers who have signed up for and been approved to accept payment from ESA accounts for the provision of those services. To become a Participating Entity, a provider must comply with statutory provisions and by following the guidance of this Handbook.

Providers wishing to accept payments from scholarship accounts must submit an application to the Treasurer of State’s office.  Each applicant may be asked to provide proof of accreditation, licensure, certification or any other supporting documentation. There are no costs associated with application.

Yes, similar to the Choice Scholarship program, qualified schools need to apply to be considered a participating provider in the Indiana ESA program. A qualified school is a nonpublic school accredited by either the state board or a national or regional accreditation agency that is recognized by the state board. Qualified schools who enroll participating students and accept fees from student accounts must administer a statewide assessment, unless otherwise prescribed by the participating student’s IEP, service plan or choice special education plan.

Yes. Any non public schools that may already be participating in the Choice Scholarship Program will need to apply to become a participating entity in the Indiana ESA Program.

The Indiana Choice Scholarship can only be used to cover tuition and fees at non-public, voucher-accepting schools, whereas tuition and fees are just one type of qualified expense for an Indiana ESA student.  Any remaining funds after the cost of tuition and fees can be used on any pre-approved educational expenses, such as therapies and services.

Furthermore, instead of using the Indiana ESA funds at a non-public school, parents can instead opt to completely customize their child’s education through the use of tutors, therapies, services, and other pre-approved educational expenses, as long as the parent of the eligible student uses part of the money in the account in the following areas of study: reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies or science, or other area as determined in the student’s IEP, service plan or choice special education plan.

Qualified students who are attending a qualified school will have a dedicated tuition purse through ClassWallet. Tuition will be invoiced quarterly by the qualified school and may be paid prior to educational services rendered.

If a student has a remaining balance to a provider after all ESA funds have been used, the balance may be paid through another payment method. Families may also choose to pay tuition and fees by other means and use ESA for other qualified expenses. Families are responsible for any leftover balance after ESA funds are used.

Disbursements will be made on August 18, October 1, January 1 and April 1. Tuition payments to Qualified Schools will be made on the same schedule

The Indiana Education Scholarship Account Program does not establish a fee structure for any participating entity. Tuition and fees are determined by the qualified school. The tuition and fee policy, as well as discount policy are submitted annually as part of the application and renewal. The parent/guardian of an eligible student will contact the qualified school to obtain the school's tuition and fee policy and discount policy, if applicable.

The Education Scholarship Account Program benefits qualified schools who would like to offer additional financial options to their families. The ESA also opens the opportunity for schools to offer individual classes, courses, programs, tutoring, camps or any other qualified expenses to their community of students who may not be enrolled in the school, and accept ESA funds as payment for these services in arrears.

Yes.

Tests are approved by the Indiana Department of Education and are dependent on grade level & IEP/ISP accommodations. Some of the approved tests include the ILEARN, SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, IREAD-3, I AM, and WIDA ACCESS.

More information can be found at https://www.in.gov/doe/students/assessment/.

For general assistance regarding statewide assessments, please contact IDOE’s Office of Student Assessment via email at INassessments@doe.in.gov or via phone at (317) 232-9050.

Private, state accredited schools as well as 3rd party ESA-approved testing providers.

ClassWallet is the financial management platform for the Education Scholarship Account program. Parents will utilize ClassWallet to pay providers for services recieved. Providers will register their bank account information to recieve payment from ESA students.

Enter ClassWallet through https://app.classwallet.com/login

If you have multiple children receiving ESA funds, you can log in once and switch between your children's accounts when issuing payment. Step-by-step instructions for this can be found here.

You can access FAQs, view on-demand videos and chat with a live support member here.

ClassWallet can be reached at 1-877-969-5536 or via email at help@classwallet.com.

Customer service hours are Monday through Friday from 8am to 8pm EST and Saturday from 10am to 4pm EST.

If your child's private school is registered on ClassWallet, you can find them by clicking "Pay Vendor" on the ClassWallet portal homepage.  All you need is a PDF, JPEG, or PNG file of the invoice, statement, or other supporting documents.

You can view the step-by-step instructions and watch a short 2-minute video here.

If your school is not on the list, please have them contact help@classwallet.com to get registered.

Learn more about the basics of ClassWallet at http://classwallet.com/schoolchoice/ or watch a 3-minute overview video.

Please note, this video represents a broad overview and is not indicative of all the services that will be available through ClassWallet for Indiana's ESA.

Yes, we do, provided your organization exceeded the transaction and volume thresholds prescribed by the IRS.

According to the IRS, a Third Party Settlement Organization (TPSO) must file Form 1099-K for payments made in settlement of reportable payment transactions for each calendar year. ClassWallet is a TPSO.

A TPSO is required to report any information concerning third-party network transactions of any participating payee only if for the calendar year:

• The gross amount of total reportable payment transactions exceeds $20,000, and
• The total number of such transactions exceeds 200.

If your company exceeds both thresholds in the calendar year, ClassWallet will send you a 1099-K form by January 31st.


For more information, you can visit the IRS website at  About Form 1099-K, Payment Card and Third Party Network Transactions | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov)