1. 2026-27 home-based amounts by age
Utah Fits All (UFA), Utah’s education savings account (ESA) scholarship, pays a different maximum for home-based students than for private-school students. Utah Code 53F-6-402(2)(c) sets the home-based amounts by your child’s age on September 1 of the scholarship year:
| Student | 2026-27 maximum |
|---|---|
| Home-based, age 5–11 on September 1, 2026 | Up to $4,000 |
| Home-based, age 12–18 on September 1, 2026 | Up to $6,000 |
| For comparison: private-school student | Up to $8,000 |
The law calls these “no more than” amounts, “subject to this part and legislative appropriations.” Odyssey, the program manager, made 2026-27 funds available on July 15, 2026. A student awarded mid-year gets a prorated share: no more than 75% in the second quarter, 50% in the third, and no new awards in the fourth.
Example (for illustration): a home-based child who turns 12 on August 20, 2026 is 12 on September 1, so the maximum for 2026-27 is $6,000. A child who turns 12 on September 20, 2026 is still 11 on September 1, so the maximum for the year is $4,000.
Utah Fits All has no extra amount for a disability. Utah’s disability-only scholarship is covered in section 9, and our amounts guide explains rollover and the other money rules.
2. When the homeschool amount applies: the June 15 rule
The private-school amount depends on a confirmed school. In an April 2026 update, Odyssey said: “Any students who have not selected a school on June 15th will be funded with the homeschool amount based on the student’s age.” If you were weighing private school against learning at home: for 2026-27, the home-based maximum applied unless a school was selected by June 15, 2026.
The law also defines a home-based scholarship student as one who attests “to being exited from enrollment in a public school to attend a home-based learning environment if the student was enrolled at any time in a public school” (Utah Code 53F-6-401(11)).
3. Utah’s 2025 change: a one-time homeschool notification
Older guides may tell you to file a home school affidavit. Utah replaced that in 2025. Under Utah Code 53G-6-204(3), as amended effective May 7, 2025:
“When a parent withdraws an enrolled school-age child from school for the purpose of home-schooling, or chooses not to enroll a school-age child, the parent shall provide a one-time initial notification, that may include a letter of intent, to the local school board of the school-age child’s district of residence.”
The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) describes 2025’s H.B. 209 as removing the affidavit requirement, and its homeschool page says “This notice is only required once for each child.” Here is what Utah’s homeschool law and USBE say about the main requirements:
| Question | What Utah says | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Do I notify anyone? | Yes, once: a one-time initial notification to the local school board of your child’s district of residence | Utah Code 53G-6-204(3) |
| How often? | “This notice is only required once for each child” | USBE homeschool page |
| What does the district do? | Records the notice and acknowledges receipt within 30 days | 53G-6-204(5) |
| Who is responsible for teaching? | The parent is “solely responsible for” materials, “the time, place, and method of instruction,” and evaluation | 53G-6-204(2)(a) |
| Curriculum, set days or hours? | No curriculum mandate or set days or hours | USBE homeschool page |
| Teaching license or credentials? | Not required; the board may not require “credentials for individuals providing home school instruction” | 53G-6-204(2)(b); USBE |
| Testing? | The board may not require “standardized or other testing of home school students” | 53G-6-204(2)(b) |
| Attendance or instruction records? | The board may not require them | 53G-6-204(2)(b) |
| Background check or inspections? | No background check; the board may not require facility inspections | USBE; 53G-6-204(2)(b) |
The law also says “The local school board and school of enrollment are not liable for the education or services of the school-age child.” This is a summary of public rules, not legal advice; your district or USBE can answer questions about your own notice.
4. The notification and the scholarship are separate steps
The homeschool notification goes to your local school board under state homeschool law. The Utah Fits All application is made on Odyssey’s website. One doesn’t do the other, so plan for both.
- No public school enrollment, even part-time. A UFA student can’t be enrolled in a public school district or charter school (the law calls these LEAs, local education agencies) or in the Statewide Online Education Program. Odyssey: “Students cannot be enrolled in both programs simultaneously under Utah law.”
- Buying from a public school without enrolling is allowed. A district or charter school can be a qualifying provider for contracted services, including “individual classes, after-school tutoring services,” as long as the student does not enroll (Utah Code 53F-6-401(20)(a)(xi) and 53F-6-408(6)(c)). USBE’s homeschool page says a UFA student using an approved provider within the public school system needs to identify themselves as a UFA student to the school or district.
- Application timing. State law opens UFA applications on March 1 for current scholarship students and April 1 for new students, and closes them May 1. Odyssey has not yet posted 2027-28 dates. See our application and renewal guide.
- Changing course. Odyssey says your child “may return to a public school at any time.” You must notify Odyssey within five business days, and the remaining balance is removed.
5. Special education services when you homeschool with UFA
Utah’s special education rules (June 2023) give school districts specific duties toward home-schooled students. The district “is responsible for location, identification, and evaluation for eligibility for home schooled students in its boundaries” (VI.D.1). But a full-time home-schooled student with a disability has no “individual right to receive any of the special education and related services the student would receive if enrolled in a public school” (VI.D.4.a). The district makes the final decision on services, if any, and “may develop a services plan” (VI.D.5–6).
The same rules describe IEP services for home-schooled students through dual enrollment in a public school (VI.D.8). Utah Fits All students can’t be enrolled in a public school, and we did not find an official source that explains how the two rules fit together. The Utah Fits All application also includes these acknowledgments (Utah Code 53F-6-402(4)(b)):
“1: A qualifying provider may not provide the same level of disability services that are provided in a public school;”
“3: Agreeing to establish this scholarship account has the same effect as a parental refusal to consent to services as described in 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.300, issued under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.”
Before you decide, ask your district or the Utah Parent Center how this applies to your child. Our guide to Utah Fits All and your child’s IEP explains the law in more detail.
6. What Utah Fits All can pay for at home
Under Utah Code 53F-6-401(20)(a), a scholarship expense is one “that a parent or scholarship student incurs in the education of the scholarship student for a service or goods that a qualifying provider provides.” The law also allows reimbursement, only under set conditions, for a similar good or service from a provider that isn’t approved (Utah Code 53F-6-402(7)(c)(ii)). Odyssey’s test is “whether an item is inherently educational versus a general-purpose item.” For a homeschool family, the main categories look like this:
| Category | What the law or Odyssey says | Limits (2026-27) |
|---|---|---|
| Tutoring | Named in the law (“tutoring services”) and first in Odyssey’s list of services | No cap or price limit |
| Curriculum, educational technology, music lessons | Named by Odyssey among things families buy in the Marketplace | Tablets, laptops and desktops: $1,500, and one of the three every 3 years; price caps on monitors, cameras, printers, 3D printers, headphones and sewing machines |
| Educational therapies | A separate Odyssey category (occupational, behavioral, physical, audiology, speech-language); the law requires a licensed or accredited practitioner or provider | See Odyssey’s Eligible Expense Guide |
| Disability assistive devices | A separate Odyssey category | See Odyssey’s Eligible Expense Guide |
| Classes or tutoring from a public school district or charter | Allowed as contracted services, without enrolling | Student may not enroll |
| Transportation | Allowed with a limit | $750 |
| Extracurricular activities and physical education | Allowed with limits | 20% each |
There are two ways to pay. In the Odyssey Marketplace, “Odyssey pays vendors directly—you don’t have to pay out of pocket and wait for reimbursement.” Or you can pay a provider yourself and request reimbursement, which for 2026-27 needs an itemized receipt, proof the payment was completed and the payment method, and a price no more than 10% above a comparable Marketplace price. Expenses must fall within the scholarship year, which runs July 1 through June 30. Our guides to eligible expenses and paying for tutoring go further.
7. What it can’t pay for, including paying yourself
Start with the rule that matters most at home: a parent can’t be paid from the scholarship to teach their own child (Utah Code 53F-6-402(7)(d)). Odyssey’s Fraud and Misuse Policy lists it as misuse, along with the items below; the sibling rules come from Odyssey’s Spending & Reimbursement Guide (“Funds cannot be pooled or transferred between siblings”):
- claiming one receipt more than once, or for more than one student;
- splitting one purchase across siblings or pooling funds;
- taking a refund directly from a seller for a Marketplace purchase, instead of through Odyssey;
- reselling items, or letting someone who wasn’t awarded use the account.
Odyssey’s Ineligible Expense Guide and the law also rule out items such as furniture, apparel, playground equipment, musical-instrument purchases, season tickets, ski passes, entertainment streaming and overnight camps.
8. Keeping it next year: the May 31 portfolio or assessment
To stay eligible, a returning student submits one portfolio item or an assessment no later than May 31 (Utah Code 53F-6-402(3)(d)). Odyssey’s examples include “Progress notes,” “Assessments or evaluations” and “A report card or progress report from a private school or curriculum provider.”
This is a scholarship rule, separate from homeschool law. Utah’s homeschool law bars a school board from requiring testing, but Utah Fits All asks for this item as a condition of renewal. Staying eligible also matters for rollover: two of every three unused dollars carry over, up to $2,000 in total, only while your child remains eligible.
For 2027-28, state law opens the application for existing scholarship students on March 1, 2027. Odyssey has not yet posted 2027-28 dates; in 2026 it closed returning-student applications on May 31.
9. If your child has a disability: the Carson Smith homeschool amount
The Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship (CSOS) is Utah’s disability-only scholarship, run by Children First Education Fund (CFEF). Per CFEF, “The homeschool scholarship amount for the 2026-27 school year is $8,000” for K-12 students, compared with UFA’s up to $4,000 or $6,000.
- Your child needs a qualifying IDEA disability “verified within the prior 36 months.”
- CFEF says “Preschoolers who are homeschooled are not eligible.”
- A student can hold only one of Utah Fits All, CSOS or the legacy Carson Smith Scholarship in a year.
- Applications go to CFEF, not Odyssey, and CFEF funds them in rounds during the year.
Our side-by-side comparison and Carson Smith guide cover the details. This page makes no claim about paying us with CSOS funds.
10. Building a week that includes tutoring
One way to plan is to keep most of the week parent-led and bring in a specialist for the subject that is hardest right now. Tutoring is one tool, not the whole plan. A simple way to build the week:
- Pick the one or two skills where your child is stuck, and let tutoring focus there.
- Put tutoring on days when your own teaching load is lighter, so the week stays manageable.
- Keep short, steady practice on the days in between, using what the tutor is working on.
- Save records as you go that you might use for the May 31 portfolio item.
Example (for illustration): a home-based 9-year-old who is working hard on reading.
| Day | Parent-led learning | Tutoring and outside support |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Math and science from your chosen curriculum | Online one-to-one reading tutoring |
| Tuesday | Short reading practice; history project | — |
| Wednesday | Math; writing practice | — |
| Thursday | Short reading practice; science | Online one-to-one reading tutoring |
| Friday | Review the week; file a work sample or note | — |
This example is not a recommendation for your child. How often tutoring helps depends on your child’s needs and goals.
Special Education Resource LLC is an approved provider in the Utah Fits All Odyssey Marketplace. Our own teachers, who are certified in special education, provide one-to-one academic tutoring online, so homeschool families anywhere in Utah can work with them. We don’t provide therapy, speech services or evaluations. Utah Fits All covers K-12 students only; we also work with younger children from age 3½, but tutoring before kindergarten would be paid privately. A free consultation is a good first step, and our Utah Fits All provider page has more about us as a Marketplace provider.