Texas Education Savings Accounts and Homeschool Co-ops: What TEFA Means for You

Texas education savings accounts, officially called Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA), give homeschool students up to $2,000 a year, but families can only spend that money on approved products and services through the program's online marketplace. For a homeschool co-op, that means TEFA does not automatically cover your semester fees. It only helps when what you charge for fits an approved category and your co-op, or your instructor, is an approved vendor.

Below is what the program is, how the money moves, which co-op costs might fit, and what to sort out before you tell families anything. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

What is the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program?

The program is run by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, and the first accounts were funded for the 2026-27 school year. As of November 2026, the program's official site lists these annual amounts:

In a June 30, 2026 release, the Comptroller said nearly 73,000 accounts would receive initial funding on July 1. Unused funds roll over while the child stays in the program.

The 2026-27 application window ran from February 4 to March 17, 2026. As of this writing, dates for 2027-28 have not been posted, and families can join an interest list on the program site for updates.

How do families spend TEFA money?

This is the part that matters most for co-ops. Families are not reimbursed for things they buy on their own. They spend through the TEFA Marketplace, which opened July 1, 2026, and only on products and services the Comptroller has approved. At launch, the Comptroller reported more than 54,000 approved products and services from nearly 2,400 vendors, with no fees to list, buy, or sell. Odyssey, the program's certified educational assistance organization, helps families find what they need.

The program's list of approved expenses includes:

• Tuition and fees for private schools, higher education providers, online courses or programs, and approved industry credential training
• Textbooks and other instructional materials
• Private tutoring
• Academic assessments
• Educational therapies not covered by other benefits such as Medicaid
• Transportation to and from approved providers
• Computer hardware and software, capped at 10% of the year's funds

One rule matters a lot for parent-led co-ops: funds may not be used to pay a family member. If a mom teaches a class her own child attends, her family's TEFA funds cannot pay her for it.

Can a homeschool co-op accept TEFA funds?

Possibly, but it is not automatic, and the program pages do not mention co-ops by name. As of November 2026, the Providers and Vendors page says tutoring, teaching services, and courses offered by other instructional providers can participate. Providers need the right to transact business in Texas, applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and the Comptroller reviews every application and every offering before it shows up in the marketplace.

Here is how that tends to line up with common co-op models:

If you are thinking about applying, contact program support first and describe your setup in plain terms. Write down the answer, the date, and who gave it. Rules for a brand new program can shift, and a written note saves arguments later.

Questions to answer before you apply as a vendor

• Is your co-op a legal entity that can transact business in Texas, or would each instructor apply on their own?
• Which of your fees pay for instruction, and which pay for rent, supplies, insurance, or a family membership? Only instruction charges look like a fit.
• Do any parents teach classes their own children attend? Those charges cannot be paid from that family's account.
• Who on your leadership team will manage marketplace listings and track which families paid through TEFA?
• What happens if a family's TEFA funds run out partway through the year? Decide whether the balance comes due by check or bank transfer.
• Does your board agree? For some co-ops, taking state funds is a values question, and it is better to talk it through before you apply than after.

If your co-op has not formed a legal entity yet, start with do homeschool co-ops need to be a nonprofit. For the basics of Texas homeschool law and launching a group, see how to start a homeschool co-op in Texas.

How do you keep the books clean if some families use TEFA?

Even if your co-op never becomes a vendor, some of your families probably have accounts and will ask about them. A few habits keep things simple:

• Split instruction fees from other fees on every invoice, so a family can see exactly which amount relates to a class.
• Record every payment the same way, whether it came by check, bank transfer, or another route, so your totals match your bank account.
• Keep a short written answer for families: what your co-op accepts, what it does not, and where they can check the marketplace themselves.
• Never promise a family that a fee will be covered. Only the Comptroller decides what is approved.

In LearningSense, semester fees can be set per child or per family, and directors can mark checks and cash paid for anything collected outside the app. Both are on every plan, including Free. Online tuition is collected by bank transfer (ACH) through Stripe. The cost is Stripe's ACH fee of 0.8%, capped at $5, plus the LearningSense platform fee: 1.0% on Free, 0.7% on Sprout, and 0.5% on Grow and Thrive. LearningSense does not connect to the TEFA Marketplace, so a payment that reaches your co-op through the program would be recorded as an offline payment.

You can see what each plan includes on our pricing page.

What should co-op directors tell families right now?

Keep it short and accurate. A note like this works: "Texas Education Freedom Account funds can only be spent through the state marketplace with approved providers. Our co-op is not an approved provider at this time. Books and curriculum for our classes may be available there, so check the marketplace before you buy." Change the middle sentence if your co-op is approved, and update the note once 2027-28 dates are announced.

For families planning to apply next year, two details from the program's media guide are worth passing along. Awards are not first come, first served; if applications exceed funding, a lottery decides, with priority tiers based on disability and household income. And if one sibling is accepted, eligible siblings who apply in the same period are accepted too.

If you are sorting out fees and payments for your Texas co-op this spring, take a look at learningsense.org. The Free plan covers enrollment, semester fees, and payment tracking, so you can set up your next semester and see how it fits.