Texas TEFA: what microschool operators need to know

The Texas Education Freedom Account (TEFA) is the largest state-funded education savings account program ever launched in the United States. If you run a microschool, a learning pod, or a homeschool co-op in Texas, this is the program that will reshape your 2026 to 2027 school year. Below is what is currently true, source-by-source, with every claim traceable to a state agency or the program’s administering organization.

The headline numbers

• $10,474 per K-12 private school student for the 2026-27 school year. Source: educationfreedom.texas.gov.
• Up to $2,000 per homeschool student per year. Same source.
• 274,000+ applications received during the first application window (Feb 4 to Mar 31, 2026). Source: Texas Comptroller press release, April 2, 2026.
• Priority tiers include approximately 30,000 students with disabilities and 79,000 from low-income households. Funding is distributed by priority where applications exceed available funds.

The administering bodies

TEFA is overseen by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. The Comptroller selected Odyssey as the certified educational assistance organization (CEAO) responsible for verifying participants and distributing funds. Odyssey, not ClassWallet, is the operational platform that families, schools, and service providers transact on for TEFA. Source: educationfreedom.texas.gov, Comptroller press release, Nov 25, 2025.

The funding calendar (2026-27)

Private-school funds disburse in three tranches (25% / 25% / 50%) rather than as a single yearly deposit. Homeschool students receive their entire $2,000 allocation upfront on July 1, 2026. Verified against the Comptroller’s published rules:

1. July 1, 2026: 25% of award available to participating private-school students. 100% to homeschool students.
2. October 1, 2026: Next 25% to private-school students.
3. February 1, 2027: Final 50% to private-school students.

This three-tranche cadence is the same shape CohortLedger uses for quarterly invoicing in the dashboard. If your school invoices families quarterly, the funding window aligns with your billing cycle without re-engineering.

What it takes to be a TEFA-participating private school

Per the Comptroller’s adopted rules, an accredited private school must:

• Be accredited by an organization recognized by the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission (TEPSAC) or another accreditor approved by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
• Have operated a physical or virtual campus for at least two consecutive school years.
• Agree to follow the program requirements established by the Comptroller.
• Annually administer and report results of an approved nationally norm-referenced or state-approved assessment for TEFA students in grades 3 through 12.

Source: Odyssey: How Can Schools Become Eligible for TEFA.

What it takes to be a non-school TEFA vendor

Schools are not the only entities that can be paid by TEFA. Tutors, therapists, curriculum providers, and other service vendors may also register. Per Odyssey’s published vendor requirements:

• Operate as a U.S.-based business entity.
• Be in good standing with the Texas Comptroller on franchise tax payments (where applicable).
• Be registered with the Texas Secretary of State to conduct business in Texas.
• Offer educational products or services that are eligible under TEFA guidelines.
• Maintain ongoing compliance with all program policies and applicable laws.

Source: Odyssey: Who Can Become a Vendor and What are the Requirements.

The application window has closed for 2026-27

The first parent application window opened February 4, 2026 and closed March 31, 2026. If you are a Texas family or a school that missed that window, the next opportunity will be for the 2027-28 school year. The Comptroller has not yet published the 2027-28 application window dates. We will update this guide the day they are announced.

What this looks like inside CohortLedger

CohortLedger ships Texas TEFA with:

• Quarterly invoicing pre-aligned with the Jul 1 / Oct 1 / Feb 1 funding cadence.
• A vendor wizard with the school accreditation, two-year operating, and assessment requirements surfaced as checklist steps.
• Bank reconciliation that matches Odyssey deposits against the expected per-student award and flags variances.
• A quarterly audit packet (CSV + printable) sized to the Comptroller’s report shape.

If a Texas-specific reporting requirement changes after this guide was last verified, we update the dashboard and this post, with a fresh source link.

For the Texas dashboard overview, see CohortLedger for Texas TEFA: the program facts, vendor registration steps, and what the quarterly Odyssey workflow looks like in the operator dashboard.

Go deeper on TEFA

This guide is the program overview. For the operational pieces we keep as separate, deeper walkthroughs: vendor registration on Odyssey, the July 1 first-payment checklist, the eligible-expense rules, and what the waitlist means for enrollment.

Once the money starts moving, the operator walkthroughs: how TEFA actually pays your school, the enrollment confirmation that releases each installment, reconciling Odyssey deposits, what a TEFA audit packet contains, what software runs a school’s TEFA money, a downloadable ESA invoice template, and how ESA software differs from general school software.

Just thinking about opening your own school? Start with how to start a microschool in Texas with TEFA.