What to Know About 2025-26 ESTF Applications

Applications for the Education Scholarship Trust Fund program were open January 15, 2025 through March 15, 2025. Now that the bill to restore the ESTF program is signed into law, applications will be accepted on a rolling basis without a strict application window.

Starting May 12, 2025, there will be a week of priority applications for children of active duty military residing in South Carolina.

Then, May 19, 2025, at 8:00am, applications will open for everyone and be distributed on a first come first serve basis.

Click here to apply. There are 10,000 scholarships available for the 2025-26 school year.

To receive email updates on the new application period, sign up on our home page.

Who is Eligible

Under current law, 2025-26 ESTF applicants must fall within 300% of the federal poverty line, reside in the state of South Carolina, and be in kindergarten through 12th grade (not exceeding age 22).

What is 300% of the Federal Poverty Line?

These numbers are calculated based on the 2025 HHS Federal Poverty Guidelines. For households over 8, add $16,500 for each additional person. For more information on what is considered in this income calculation, visit our FAQ page. If a family is expecting a baby to be born in 2025, that baby can be counted as a household member for the purposes of determining income eligibility (medical documentation will need to be submitted with your application).

What can recipients use their scholarships for?

• tuition and fees for attendance at an education service provider or eligible school;
• textbooks, curriculum, or other instructional materials including, but not limited to, any supplemental materials or associated online instruction required by either a curriculum or an education service provider;
• tutoring services approved by the SC Department of Education (SCDE);
• computer hardware or other technological devices that are used primarily for a scholarship student’s educational needs and approved by SCDE or a licensed physician;
• tuition and fees for an approved online education service provider or course;
• fees for approved national norm-referenced examinations, advanced placement (AP) examinations, or similar assessments; industry certification exams; or examinations related to college or university admission (eg. SAT/ACT);
• educational services for pupils with disabilities from a licensed or accredited practitioner or provider including, but not limited to, occupational, behavioral, physical, and speech-language therapies;
• approved contracted services from a public school district, or a public charter school including individual classes, after school tutoring services, transportation, or fees or costs associated with participation in extracurricular activities;
• contracted teaching services and education classes approved by SCDE;
• fees for transportation paid to a fee-for-service transportation provider for the scholarship student to travel to and from an eligible provider as defined in this section, but not to exceed $3,000 each school year
• fees for interdistrict public school transfers;
• cost of school uniforms which are required for attendance;
• any consumables and items necessary to complete a curriculum or that are otherwise applicable to a course of study that has been approved by SCDE; or
• any other educational expense approved by SCDE to enable personalized learning consistent with the intent of this act.

What about the Eidson court decision?

You may be aware of the SC Supreme Court’s decision in Eidson v. South Carolina Department of Education, released in September 2024. This decision ruled that the Education Scholarship Trust Fund program cannot be used for tuition and fees at independent/private schools. However, the ESTF program was allowed to continue with funds being used for other purposes, such as tutoring, disability services, purchases in the ClassWallet marketplace, and more, so long as the student is not enrolled in their resident public school district or under one of the three homeschooling options outlined in state law. The South Carolina General Assembly passed and the Governor signed into law S.62, a bill to restore the ESTF program’s ability to be used for school tuition and fees. Even though we expect the legislation to fix legal challenges, we are confident that the bill passes constitutional muster.

For information on the provisions included in S.62 we commend this article to parents.

Have questions?

Check out our FAQ page for application questions. If you still have questions or need application help, you can reach out to our team at info@scschoolchoice.com.