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A Comprehensive Parents’ Guide to Utah Fits All Scholarship (ESA)
The Utah Fits All Scholarship Program provides K-12 students with state-funded scholarships, opening doors to a wealth of educational opportunities, including CodaKid’s premier AI, coding, and STEM courses.
What is the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program?
The Utah Fits All Scholarship Program offers scholarships funded by state tax dollars to support private school tuition, curriculum, home education, tutoring, and more for K-12 students in Utah.
The Utah Fits All Scholarship Program marks a milestone as the state’s inaugural education savings account and the first school choice initiative in Utah accessible to all students. While Utah previously established the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship Program (a voucher system) and the Special Needs Opportunity Scholarship Program (a tax-credit scholarship), these were specifically tailored for students with special learning requirements.
The introduction of the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program represents a landmark achievement in advancing educational freedom and choice for Utah’s students and their families.
Who Qualifies for the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program?
All K-12 students in Utah are eligible for the scholarship, making quality education accessible to every child in the state. The scholarship funds can be used for a wide range of educational services, providing flexibility for families.
In the event that demand exceeds the 80 million in available funds, the program has established a priority system. Priority is given in the following order: returning account holders, students from families earning at or below 200% of the federal poverty level ($60,000 for a family of four in 2023-24), applicants with siblings currently using or who used an ESA in the previous year, and students from families with incomes between 200% and 555% of the federal poverty level ($165,000 for a family of four in 2023-2024).
What Is the Scholarship amount?
The scholarship amounts vary based on local school district allocations, with up to $8000 per year for regular education students. Families with children who have special needs may receive higher funding, ensuring all students get the support they need.
What can the funds be spent on?
The Utah Fits All Scholarship Program can be spent on a wide array of education-related expenditures. These include private school tuition and associated fees, tutoring services, costs for various tests, specialized services and therapies for students with special needs, individual courses and activities, educational resources and curriculum expenses, and contracted services. Additionally, the program covers individual classes and extracurricular activities offered by local education agencies (public schools). Beyond these, the program supports numerous other approved expenses directly related to the ESA student’s educational journey.
How to apply
To apply, you will need to create an account at the Utah State Board of Education website. If you are the Parent or Guardian of more than one ESA student, you only need to register once.
After acceptance, you will be required to sign a contract in which you agree to certain terms and conditions regarding the program and approved usage of funds.
Next steps after contract signing
Once you sign the contract, you will be granted a Class Wallet account. Class Wallet is a 3rd party payment system that Utah Fits All uses to administer payment of funds for approved expenses.
Using Utah Fits All funds with Class Wallet
Once you log into your Class Wallet account and follow the steps to connect your bank account, you will be ready to start using it.
The new ClassWallet Marketplace includes two new redesigned ClassWallet Sourced stores; one for supplies and another for resources, that offer savings on thousands of services and items.
There are four ways you can spend funds from Utah Fits All:
- Shop in Class Wallet Marketplace. You can shop in the marketplace and place orders with various approved online vendors. Upon approval by your administrator, all orders will be processed and the funds you spend will automatically reduce your account balance requiring you to spend out of pocket. For a detailed article on how to shop in the marketplace, check out this Class Wallet article here.
- Pay Schools and Service Providers. If your student’s school or service provider is registered on Class Wallet you can locate them in the Pay Vendor area and make payments. You will need to upload any invoice, statement, or other supporting documentation in PDF, JPEG, or PNG format.
- Submit Receipts for Reimbursement. If you paid out of pocket for a qualifying expense, you can submit receipts for reimbursement after linking your bank account.
- Use a Prepaid Debit Card from Class Wallet. You can use your prepaid debit card from ClassWallet. All debit card receipts need to be uploaded to the ClassWallet portal within the quarter that the expense was made. There are several other rules, regulations, and issues that you’ll need to be aware of when using the ClassWallet Debit Card. Click this link for a helpful FAQ about the ClassWallet debit card.
When you select a service like CodaKid Kids Coding and AI Academy, you can do it either way. A CodaKid Team member will send you an invoice each month or annually (depending on which program you select) which you will then upload to Class Wallet. Utah Fits All will then approve the payment, and transfer funds from your Class Wallet account to CodaKid. Other families opt to pay for our services with their own credit card, receive an invoice from us, and have Class Wallet deposit funds directly into their bank accounts.
Utilizing scholarship funds and getting started with vendors
Families can use the scholarship funds for various educational expenses, ranging from microschools to speciality online tutoring providers to curriculum and more.
Once you have the scholarship and have selected an approved vendor, enrolling is generally straightforward. To get started, you’ll generally need to do one of the following things first:
- Receive an invoice: Ask the vendor you select to send you an invoice, which you can then upload to the payment system for approval.
- Make Direct Payment: Alternatively, you can pay the vendor with your credit card, receive an receipt, and have the funds reimbursed directly to your bank account.
Why select CodaKid?
- Tech Skills are a must in the AI Future: CodaKid’s courses teach cutting-edge technology skills that will provide your child or teen with the skills they need to succeed in the AI future.
- CodaKid provides multiple ways to learn:
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- Self-Paced Learning: Gain access to 85+ courses, including AI, Scratch, Python, Minecraft, Roblox, Unreal Engine, Unity, and more.
- Private 1:1 Sessions: Personalized tutoring helps students learn faster and more effectively.
- Group Academies and Camps: Join our one-week summer camps focused on cutting-edge topics like AI, Roblox, Minecraft, Python, and Fortnite.
- Award-Winning Curriculum: CodaKid’s courses use popular video games to teach real programming languages, making learning both fun and valuable.
- Customized Learning for Diverse Needs: Our 1:1 tutoring offers personalized curriculum and teaching methods, making it ideal for students with ADHD, ADD, and autism. This ensures every student receives the attention and support they need to succeed.
- Real-World Skills: Students learn to code using professional tools and languages like Python, JavaScript, Java, Lua, Scratch, C#, HTML, CSS, and Unreal Blueprints, gaining skills used by developers at leading tech companies.
- Engaging and Fun: By incorporating popular video games into our curriculum, CodaKid makes coding fun and exciting, keeping students motivated and engaged throughout their learning journey.
- Comprehensive Progression: Our courses cater to all skill levels, from beginners to advanced coders, ensuring continuous learning and development.
Special Offers for New Students
- 14-Day Free Trial: Experience our self-study platform for free for 14 days, including unlimited teacher help desk support.
- First Session Free: Try out a private 1:1 tutoring session at no cost.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our blog A Comprehensive Utah Fits All Scholarship Guide for Parents. If we’ve missed anything or if you had an comments or sugestions, please leave them in the Comments section below.
