Arkansas LEARNS Act Application: Eligibility, Funds, and Testing

Applications for the Arkansas LEARNS Act Education Freedom Account run from March 9 through June 1 for the 2026–2027 school year, and the entire process happens online at arkansasefa.com. Every approved student receives approximately $7,200 in state funds — about 90% of the prior year’s per-student foundation funding — deposited quarterly into a ClassWallet account you manage.¹ The money can pay for private school tuition, homeschool curriculum, tutoring, technology, and other approved educational costs. If your paperwork is ready, the whole process from submission to a funded account takes a few weeks.

Who Qualifies Now

Starting with the 2025–2026 school year and every year after, any student who lives in Arkansas and is eligible to enroll in a public K–12 school qualifies.² There is no income cap and no prior-public-school requirement. Kindergartners must be at least five years old by August 1 of the school year they’re applying for.³

One boundary matters up front: your child cannot be enrolled full-time in a public or public charter school and receive EFA funds at the same time. Choosing the EFA means you are directing your child’s education outside the traditional public school system.

Priority Categories and When to Apply

Every eligible student can be funded, but applications are not processed first-come, first-served. The state reviews them in tiered windows, and inside each window, higher-priority students are approved first.⁴ Applying earlier gives you an edge.

The 2026–2027 windows:

Window A: March 9 – March 29
Window B: March 30 – April 19
Window C: April 20 – May 10
Window D: May 11 – June 1

Within each window, applications are sorted by priority:

Priority 1: Returning EFA students who participated the previous year.
Priority 2: Students with a disability under IDEA, students who are homeless, or students in foster care (including those who left foster care through adoption or guardianship).³
Priority 3: Students transferring from a D- or F-rated public school or a district classified as needing Level 5 intensive support.²
Priority 4: Children of active-duty military, veterans, reservists, first responders, and law enforcement officers.²
Priority 5: All other new applicants.

If your child fits a higher tier, have the documentation ready before you start: an IEP, a foster care placement letter, a military ID. The application asks you to identify your priority category and may request verification.

Documents to Gather First

Incomplete uploads are the most common reason applications stall. Collect everything before you sit down at the computer.

New applicants need:

Proof of Arkansas residency for the parent or guardian. A recent utility bill, lease, property tax bill, or current Arkansas driver’s license or state ID showing your address will work.⁵³
Proof of the student’s identity and date of birth. A birth certificate, passport, or an official school document such as a report card showing full name and date of birth.

Returning students generally do not need to resubmit core documents; those stay on file. ADE will notify you if anything additional is needed at renewal.³

How to Submit the Application

New Applicants

Go to arkansasefa.com, or find the link on ADE’s Office of School Choice page.⁴
Create a FACTS account, or log in with existing FACTS credentials if you have them.
Complete the form: your contact information, your child’s demographic data, the school or educational setting you plan to use, and your priority category if applicable.
Upload proof of residency and proof of the child’s identity and date of birth. Photograph or scan each document clearly.
Review and submit. You should get a confirmation that your application was received.

Returning Students

Renewals go through the same portal during the same March–June window. Log in at arkansasefa.com, start the application, indicate that your student was previously funded, verify or update anything that has changed, and submit.³ Returning students are Priority 1, so a Window A submission is processed first.

What Happens After Approval

Once ADE approves your application, you’ll get a welcome email with instructions to set up ClassWallet, the digital payment platform the state uses for all EFA spending.³ During setup you’ll link your student to an approved private school or confirm your homeschool arrangement before funds are deposited.

Deposits arrive quarterly, not in a lump sum. For 2025–2026 the schedule was August, October, February, and April, at roughly $1,716 per quarter on a total award of about $6,864.³ The 2026–2027 total rises to approximately $7,200 because the award tracks 90% of the prior year’s per-student foundation funding, which increased.¹

Unused funds roll over between quarters in the same school year. Beginning with the 2024–2025 school year, unspent balances can also carry into the next school year, up to a limit set by ADE, instead of reverting to the state.³

What EFA Funds Cover

Private school tuition is the most common use, but the account is designed to cover a range of educational costs. Every purchase goes through ClassWallet, either by shopping the ClassWallet marketplace with pre-approved vendors or by paying out of pocket and submitting an itemized receipt for reimbursement.³

Approved categories:

Tuition and fees at private schools, micro-schools, and other approved educational settings.
Curriculum and instructional materials, including textbooks, workbooks, and supplemental resources.
Tutoring and educational therapy from qualified providers.
Testing fees for nationally standardized achievement tests and college entrance exams.
Career training course fees, industry credentials, and required uniforms.
Technology such as computers, laptops, tablets, and basic peripherals like printers, routers, and headphones, when the cost is reasonable for the educational purpose.³
Transportation, up to 25% of the total annual award.³

Some items are off-limits regardless of any educational argument. Televisions, gaming consoles, smartphones, smartwatches, and high-end audio equipment are banned. Home internet service and phone data plans are not covered, though router hardware itself qualifies.³ There is no specific dollar cap on technology, but ADE applies a “reasonable and typical” standard. A $3,000 gaming laptop is hard to justify when a $600 Chromebook does the same schoolwork.

Annual Testing You Cannot Skip

Receiving EFA funds comes with an obligation many families overlook until it’s almost too late. Every participating student in kindergarten through tenth grade must take a standardized test each year measuring at least reading and math achievement.² Failing to test or submit results puts your child’s continued eligibility at risk.

You can meet the requirement with the state assessment (the same tests public school students take, such as ATLAS for grades K–10 or the ACT in eleventh grade), or with an approved nationally norm-referenced test such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Stanford Achievement Test, TerraNova, NWEA MAP Growth, California Achievement Test, or ACT/SAT for high schoolers.³

If your child attends a participating private school, the school handles testing and reports scores to ADE. If you’re homeschooling, you arrange the test, have your child take it, and submit results to ADE by June 30 each year. Students with significant cognitive disabilities may be exempt, taking an alternate assessment approved by the State Board or preparing a progress portfolio.² If a student does not show academic growth year over year, the school or homeschool provider must develop an intervention plan and file annual reports with ADE showing expected achievement targets.

The Special Education Waiver

This part of the application catches families off guard and deserves careful thought. When you enroll a child with a disability in a private school or homeschool using EFA funds, your child loses the individual right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) that federal law otherwise guarantees through the public school system.⁶

The application includes a waiver form spelling out that:

Your local public school district is no longer obligated to provide special education services or an IEP to your child.
You lose the procedural safeguards under IDEA, including the right to file a state complaint or request a due process hearing, except for “Child Find” obligations that require the district to identify children who may need special education.
The private school is not required to deliver the same services your child’s IEP specified in public school.

Your child can still thrive in a private setting. But if your child currently receives speech therapy, occupational therapy, a one-on-one aide, or other specialized supports through the public school, confirm the private school offers comparable services before signing. EFA funds can pay for educational therapy and tutoring, but they won’t replicate a full IEP team backed by federal enforcement rights. Families who switch and later change their minds can return to public school, though reinstating an IEP takes time.

Spending Oversight and Penalties

ADE monitors ClassWallet transactions, and every purchase is subject to review. Enforcement escalates with the seriousness of the problem.³

Improper payments from honest mistakes are usually resolved with guidance. ADE contacts you, explains the issue, and may ask you to return the item or reimburse the account.
Misspending, meaning repeated improper purchases or more significant misuse, can lead to mandatory repayment, additional oversight of your account, or temporary suspension of EFA privileges.
Fraud, meaning deliberate deceptive misuse, can result in permanent removal from the program, legal action, and criminal prosecution.

If you realize you bought something that might not qualify, contact EFA program staff proactively. ADE works with families on remedies rather than jumping straight to penalties, but only if you come forward before they flag it.³ An account can be closed entirely for repeated violations.

Appealing a Denial

If ADE determines your child does not qualify for priority status or removes your child from the program, you can appeal to the State Board of Education. File the official appeal form, available on ADE’s website, within 30 calendar days of the adverse decision. The day ADE sends the notice does not count toward that deadline, and if the 30th day falls on a weekend or state holiday, you have until the next business day.²

The State Board hears appeals at its next scheduled meeting, provided the appeal arrives at least 14 days before that meeting. You and ADE each get up to 15 minutes to present, and the Board votes in open session. A late appeal is denied automatically, so don’t let the deadline slip. If the Board rules against you, that decision can be appealed to circuit court.²

1
Arkansas Department of Education. Family EFA Details
2
Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. Rule Governing the Educational Freedom Account Program
3
Arkansas Department of Education. AR EFA Family Handbook 2025-26
4
Arkansas Department of Education. Education Freedom Accounts
5
Arkansas Department of Education (ADE). EFAS Eligible Documentation
6
Arkansas Department of Education. Education Freedom Account Student Application 2024-2025