ESA & Scholarships/Tennessee
Education Savings Account
Tennessee
Individualized Education Account (IEA), and the Education Freedom Scholarship (EFS)
Checked 18 September 2026
What this means for homeschool families
Only some homeschooled students. The IEA serves home-educated students with a qualifying disability. The larger Education Freedom Scholarship pays only a registered non-public school.
If your child does qualify, the details are below. See also the note under “Who qualifies”.
How it works
Tennessee has three choice programmes, and they are not the same. The IEA is the one for home-educating families: it serves K-12 students with qualifying disabilities and can be used at non-public schools, through an umbrella home school, or while independently home schooled. The statewide Education Freedom Scholarship is larger (35,000 scholarships for 2026-27, after a 15,000-seat expansion signed in May 2026), but it pays for a student enrolled at an EFS-registered Category I, II or III non-public school. The older ESA pilot is for Memphis-Shelby, Metro Nashville and Hamilton County families going to a private school.
- Programme
- Individualized Education Account (IEA), and the Education Freedom Scholarship (EFS)
- Administered by
- Tennessee Department of Education
- Amount
- IEA: set each year from the state funding formula. EFS: $7,530 per scholarship for 2026-27, but only at a registered non-public school.
- For homeschoolers
- Only some homeschooled students
Who qualifies
IEA: a student with an active Tennessee IEP for a qualifying disability, who was enrolled in a Tennessee public school for the whole of the previous year, unless entering kindergarten or new to the state. Once in the IEA, the student cannot be enrolled in a public school. EFS: any Tennessee K-12 student eligible for public school, with priority by income and previous participation. A homeschooled child can apply for EFS, but only gets the money by enrolling at an EFS-registered school.
How to apply
- Confirm your child is eligible for this year — see "Who qualifies" above.
- Check this year's window. Both are closed for 2026-27. The IEA window for 2027-28 is projected to open on 16 February 2027. The EFS window for 2026-27 closed on 6 February 2026. Last year it opened in January, so watch the EFS page from December 2026. Dates move every year, so confirm on the official page before you plan around them.
- Create a parent account on the official portal and start the application.
- Have your documents ready. Most programmes want proof of residency, the child's birth certificate, and an IEP or eligibility determination if the programme is disability-based.
- Once you're approved, spend it. For a home-educating family, the IEA is the route that pays for curriculum and materials. EFS money follows a school place, so for EFS students ask the school about Historical Conquest as a classroom resource.
Official programme page: tn.gov/education/efs.html. Amounts, deadlines and eligibility are set by the state and change every year — always confirm there before you plan around them.
Sources
Checked 18 September 2026 against these sources:
Historical Conquest in Tennessee
Using it with Historical Conquest
The card game, the Monthly Adventure Boxes, the textbooks and the digital game are history curriculum and instructional materials — the kind of purchase this programme lists as an allowed expense. Whether a particular item is approved is the programme’s decision, so check its expense list before you order.
Not sure whether something qualifies, or need an itemised receipt or product details for a review? Ask us.
ESA Overview
What these programmes are, who they are for, and every state we cover.
Homeschool funding by state
Which states’ programmes a homeschooling family can use, and which they cannot.
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