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Tennessee EFS for homeschool families

Education savings account · Tennessee · 2026-27 · checked Oct 12, 2026 against 4 sources · General information, not legal or financial advice.

Your Tennessee EFS to-do

  1. Homeschoolers can't use Tennessee EFS.
    A homeschooled child may apply, but EFS money is paid only for a student enrolled in an EFS-registered Category I, II or III non-public school in Tennessee, and tuition there is paid first. A child who stays home-schooled cannot receive EFS funds.

What Tennessee EFS says

Education Freedom Scholarship, run by Tennessee Department of Education.

Homeschoolers
Homeschoolers can't use it
A homeschooled child may apply, but EFS money is paid only for a student enrolled in an EFS-registered Category I, II or III non-public school in Tennessee, and tuition there is paid first. A child who stays home-schooled cannot receive EFS funds.
Amount
WhoGradesPer year
ScholarshipK-12$7,530
2026-27. Equal to the TISA funding formula base amount per student, so it changes every year. Put in the portal in four parts: 50% Aug 15, 20% Oct 15, 20% Jan 15, 10% Mar 15. Prorated by days enrolled if the student joins for part of the year.
What you can spend on
  • Tuition and fees at the EFS-registered Category I, II, or III non-public school (must be paid first)
  • Textbooks, curricula, instructional materials, and uniforms at the non-public school in which the student is enrolled
  • Tuition, textbooks, curricula, and instructional material fees for approved educational summer education programs and specialized after-school academic programs (not childcare)
  • Tutoring services provided by an individual or agency who meets department requirements (an individual must hold an active TN teacher license)
  • Transportation to and from the non-public school, paid to a commercial fee-for-service provider
  • Fees for early postsecondary opportunity courses, examinations, or entrance examinations required for college admission and industry credentials
  • Educational therapies or services provided by a department-approved licensed therapist
  • Computer hardware, technological devices, or other department-approved technology fees (bought in the portal Marketplace; no internet service or software)
What a receipt must show
  • Money never goes to the family: tuition is paid to the school through the portal, and other approved purchases are made in the portal's Marketplace
  • Upload any documentation the portal asks for
  • Confirm receipt of every technology and uniform delivery in the portal (Marketplace Orders, then "Confirm Receipt")
Where you submit
EFS online portal and Marketplace · site
Direct pay: the program pays approved vendors
Learning plan
Not verified yet
Testing
Yes. The EFS-registered school makes sure students in grades 3-11 take, every year, either a nationally standardized achievement test aligned to the school's instructional plan or the TCAP math and English language arts tests. The school sends the results to the Comptroller's Office of Research and Education Accountability (OREA) by June 30.
Renewal
Yearly: an abbreviated renewal application in the online portal, in the same window as new applications (2026-27: Dec 9, 2025 - Jan 30, 2026). Renewing students get Priority 1. Unused funds stay in the account from year to year while the student is eligible; they go back to the State Treasurer if the student leaves the program.
Created by the Education Freedom Act (Tenn. Code Ann. 49-6-3501 et seq., signed February 12, 2025) and State Board of Education Rule 0520-01-24.
If applications exceed the scholarships available, awards go in this order: 1 current EFS recipients; 2 income up to 100% of the free/reduced-price lunch level, SNAP/TANF, or ESA/IEA-eligible; 3 income up to 300% of that level; 4 current Tennessee public school students or children eligible for kindergarten; 5 everyone else. All subject to appropriations.
Technology: a laptop and a tablet may each be bought only once every three calendar years, only through the portal Marketplace.
Not allowed: late fees, food, before/after-school care, summer camp, extracurricular and athletic fees, consumable supplies, field trips, personal transportation.
EFS is not taxable income; no 1099 is issued. It is separate from Tennessee's ESA and IEA programs; a student can be in only one of them a year.

Sources

General information, not legal or financial advice. Programs change their rules every year; check with Tennessee Department of Education before you spend. If something looks wrong, tell us.

How Homepen helps

Homepen keeps your days, hours and records, and reminds you of the testing deadline. A receipt vault (snap a receipt, pick the child and category, mark it submitted) is coming in a later version.

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