South Carolina ESTF Scholarship: A Guide for Homeschool Families

One of the best parts of homeschooling is getting to build your child's education around how they learn, and you probably want to keep saying yes to the curriculum and classes that fit them. In South Carolina, the Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) can help pay for those choices, and homeschool families can use it as long as they change how they register their homeschool.

We'll explain what that change involves and how to apply, then show you how to put part of your scholarship toward a Guide Dots art kit (yes, art is on the state's approved list!).

For a wider look at how these programs work around the country, see our complete guide to homeschool funding and ESAs.

What Does ESTF Mean?

ESTF stands for the Education Scholarship Trust Fund Program, which is South Carolina's version of an education savings account (ESA). Instead of sending money to a school, the state deposits your child's scholarship into an online account that you manage, and you spend it on approved education expenses. You may also hear it called the SC Education Trust Fund scholarship.

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) runs the ESTF and works with a company called ClassWallet to manage the accounts.

Who Qualifies for the ESTF Scholarship in 2026-27?

Your child qualifies if they:

• Live in South Carolina
• Are in kindergarten through 12th grade and turned 5 by September 1
• Live in a household earning no more than 500% of the federal poverty guidelines
• Aren't enrolled full time at the public school they're zoned for
• Aren't registered under one of South Carolina's three homeschool options

Here's the 2026-27 income limit by household size, which is updated by SCDE each year:

The public school requirement only applies to the school your district assigns you, so a child who attends a public school outside their zone can still use ESTF. Students who receive an Exceptional SC scholarship can't receive ESTF at the same time.

SCDE confirms each new year's requirements when applications open, so check the SCDE ESTF FAQ before you apply.

How Much Is the ESTF Scholarship?

Each student receives $7,634 for the 2026-27 school year. State law ties the amount to per-pupil funding, so the award can change a little each year.

SCDE pays the scholarship in four deposits of $1,908.50 and makes the first one in late July. ESTF doesn't use reimbursement, so you won't pay out of pocket and wait for the state to pay you back. Instead, you pay providers and make purchases directly from your child's account. The scholarship also doesn't count as taxable income for your family.

Do ESTF Funds Roll Over?

Yes! You keep any money you don't spend for the next school year, as long as your child reapplies and still meets the eligibility requirements. If your child leaves the program, including by enrolling at their zoned public school, SCDE returns the remaining balance to the state fund.

How to Apply for the ESTF Scholarship

SCDE opens applications in stages each year and processes them in the order it receives them within each window.

1. Returning families go first. Current scholarship students and their siblings get the earliest window, which opens in the fall.
2. Priority applicants come next. New students qualify for priority if any of these apply:
   • A parent is on active duty and stationed in South Carolina
   • The household earns 300% of the federal poverty guidelines or less
   • The student attended public school the year before
3. General applicants apply last. Every other eligible family can apply once the priority window closes.

Because the program fills up fast, applying on the first day of your window gives your child the best shot at a seat. SCDE sets new dates each year, so check the ESTF program site for the current schedule.

Before your window opens, gather these documents:

• Proof of guardianship, such as a birth certificate or a tax return that lists your child as a dependent
• Proof of South Carolina residency, such as a driver's license or a utility bill
• Proof of income, usually pages 1 and 2 of your most recent Form 1040
• Military orders or last year's report card, if you're applying in the priority window on one of those grounds

Once you've submitted every document, SCDE has 30 days to issue an award letter and set up your child's account.

What Happens When the Program Fills Up?

South Carolina's ESTF scholarship cap is at least 15,000 students a year, and lawmakers can add more seats through the state budget based on how many families applied the year before. Families have claimed every seat each year so far, and SCDE places applicants who miss out on a waitlist. The department pulls from that list when awarded families leave the program, so sign up even if you plan to apply again next year.

Can Homeschool Families Use ESTF?

Yes, though it works differently from traditional homeschooling. State law doesn't allow a child to receive ESTF while registered under any of South Carolina's three homeschool options. What makes ESTF possible for families who teach at home is that the scholarship agreement itself satisfies South Carolina's compulsory attendance law. Instead of registering under one of those options, you'd leave your current program and teach your child through ESTF.

In exchange for the funding, you take on a few responsibilities. You'll agree to teach at least English language arts (including writing), math, social studies, and science, and your child will take a test each year in grades 3 through 11. SCDE accepts any of these tests:

• SC READY, the state test that public school students take
• A nationally norm-referenced test like the Iowa Assessments
• An approved test like MAP, given three times a year

After testing, you send the scores to SCDE. If your child's IEP exempts them from testing, you can submit that documentation instead.

SCDE calls families who build their child's education this way "unbundlers," and lawmakers spent much of the 2026 session debating whether they belong in the program. Senators proposed blocking new unbundling families from joining, but that effort failed, and about 2,500 of the 15,000 students awarded scholarships for 2026-27 planned to learn this way. Lawmakers could take up the issue again in the 2027 session, so check the ESTF program site for updates before you leave your homeschool option.

ESTF vs. South Carolina's Homeschool Options

Here's how ESTF compares with the state's three homeschool options:

What Can You Buy With ESTF Funds?

The approved list is broad, and it covers most of what a home-based learning plan needs:

• Tuition and fees at approved private schools and online programs
• Curriculum and textbooks in core subjects and electives like art and music
• Reading books and other instructional materials
• Tutoring with approved providers
• Computers and other technology, within SCDE's limits
• Educational therapies for students with disabilities, including speech and occupational therapy
• Classes and extracurriculars at a public school outside your zone
• Transportation through an approved provider, up to $3,000 a year

SCDE also limits technology purchases. Computers and tablets can cost up to $1,500 each, and you can buy one of each every two years. The Participant Guide lists every approved expense and limit.

How ClassWallet Works

ClassWallet holds your child's scholarship in a digital wallet, and you can spend it two ways. You can shop the ClassWallet Marketplace, which works like an online store stocked with approved products, or you can send a Direct Pay payment to an approved provider using an invoice from that provider. The invoice needs to show the provider's name and address, your child's name, the date of service, and what the payment covers.

An Art Teacher for Your Homeschool

Most homeschool parents have had this moment. Your child asks how to draw a horse, and you realize you aren't sure how to show them. Parents tend to push art to the bottom of the week because it's the subject they feel least ready to teach, and by spring the art folder is mostly coloring pages.

Guide Dots brings a trained art teacher into your homeschool. Ms. Cindra McCoy earned her art education degree and ran her own studio before she created the program, and she teaches every lesson on video so your child can pause and replay any step as often as they need. Each project builds on the one before it, working through skills like shading and perspective as your child's confidence grows. The Bright Board and the dots guide your child's hand while they learn to see shapes and spacing correctly, and before long they're using those skills in drawings that are entirely their own.

Guide Dots is completely hands-off for you, so they can work on art while you teach a sibling (or have some me time!). You get one subject you don't have to plan, and your child learns from a teacher who's trained to teach it.

How to Get Guide Dots With Your ESTF Funds

Guide Dots is an approved ESTF provider, so your scholarship can cover your art kit with nothing out of pocket.

1. Log into your ClassWallet account.
2. Open the Marketplace and search for "Guide Dots."
3. Choose the starter kit that matches your child's experience level.
4. Check out using your ESTF balance.

Starter kits begin at $93, which leaves most of your $7,634 for the rest of your child's learning plan. We ship every kit in one box with the Bright Board and artist-grade supplies included, so you won't need a separate supply run before the first lesson.

Use your ESTF funds for Guide Dots and give your child an art teacher this school year.

Waiting to hear back on your application? Your child can start with a free 30-minute art lesson in the meantime! Print the guides and press play to see how they take to it.