1. Utah Fits All and Carson Smith side by side
Utah has two scholarships, each created by state law, that a family of a child with a disability may be choosing between. Utah Fits All (UFA) is Utah’s education savings account (ESA), which some people call a voucher. It is open to Utah K-12 students whether or not they have a disability, subject to the money the Legislature provides. The Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship (CSOS) is only for students with a qualifying disability. Here is how they compare for the 2026-27 school year.
| Utah Fits All (UFA) | Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship (CSOS) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Odyssey, the program manager; the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) holds the contract | Children First Education Fund (CFEF), the scholarship granting organization |
| State law | Utah Code 53F-6-401 to -417 (amended in 2026 by H.B. 467) | Utah Code 53E-7-401 to -410 (amended in 2026) |
| Disability required? | No, and there is no extra amount or priority for a disability | Yes: a qualifying IDEA disability “verified within the prior 36 months” |
| Who else qualifies | Utah resident; eligible for public school in kindergarten through grade 12; has not turned 19 before September 1; not enrolled in a public school district, charter school or the Statewide Online Education Program | Utah resident for the whole school year; not attending a public or charter school when the scholarship is awarded |
| Private school, 2026-27 | Up to $8,000 | $12,175 (K-12), per CFEF |
| Home-based or homeschool, 2026-27 | Up to $4,000 (age 5–11 on September 1) or $6,000 (age 12–18) | $8,000 (K-12), per CFEF |
| Preschool, 2026-27 | Not covered (K-12 only) | $2,600 part-time or $4,800 full-time, per CFEF; homeschooled preschoolers are not eligible |
| Where you apply | Odyssey’s website | CFEF |
| Application timing | Set by state law: opens March 1 (current students) and April 1 (new students), closes May 1. Odyssey has not yet posted 2027-28 dates. | 2026-27 approval rounds: June 15, August 15, October 15 and December 15, 2026. Funding “may close at any time” once funds run out. |
| How providers are paid | Through the Odyssey Marketplace, where “Odyssey pays vendors directly” | CFEF-approved providers “Receive payment directly from scholarship disbursements for eligible services” |
| Family reimbursement | Processed within 10 business days of a complete submission and paid within 10 business days of approval (Odyssey) | Submit by the last day of each month by 10 PM; reimbursements are issued on the 25th of the following month (CFEF) |
| Tutoring | Named in the law (“tutoring services”); no cap or price limit in Odyssey’s purchase limits | Named in the law (“tutoring services”); CFEF lists “Tutoring and academic coaching” |
| IEP and IDEA wording in the law | “same effect as a parental refusal to consent to services as described in 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.300” (53F-6-402(4)) | “same effect as a parental refusal to consent to services as described in 24 C.F.R. Sec. 300.300” (53E-7-405(5)(d), as written) |
| Holding both | Not allowed: a student can’t receive either Carson Smith scholarship in the same year | Not allowed: a student can’t receive Utah Fits All or the legacy Carson Smith Scholarship in the same year |
CSOS amounts come from CFEF’s 2026-27 award-amounts page, dated April 1, 2026. On October 1, 2026, CFEF’s main scholarship page still said the 2026-27 amount was “being finalized,” so confirm with CFEF before you budget. UFA amounts are maximums set in Utah Code 53F-6-402(2)(c).
2. Who qualifies for each
Utah Fits All
Under Utah Code 53F-6-401(8), a student must be eligible to attend a Utah public school in kindergarten through grade 12, must not have turned 19 before September 1 of the school year, and must have Utah as their primary residence. Before receiving the scholarship, the student must not be enrolled in a local education agency (LEA, meaning a public school district or charter school) or in the Statewide Online Education Program. Part-time enrollment doesn’t work either. In Odyssey’s words, “Students cannot be enrolled in both programs simultaneously under Utah law.”
A disability is not required, and having one doesn’t change the amount or the priority order. When applications outnumber the funding, the law sets a priority order with a lottery; our application and renewal guide links Odyssey’s own description of it.
Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship
Under Utah Code 53E-7-401(2) and CFEF’s scholarship page, a student must live in Utah for the whole school year and have a qualifying disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, the federal special education law) “verified within the prior 36 months.” CFEF lists an IEP, an ATMR or an MDT (multidisciplinary team) evaluation as ways to verify it (CFEF’s terms; ask CFEF which documents it accepts), and says “The student must not be attending public or charter school when the scholarship is awarded.”
Utah law adds that when eligibility comes through a multidisciplinary team evaluation, that evaluation “does not establish eligibility for an IEP … and is not binding on any LEA” (Utah Code 53E-7-402(5)). Two situations are worth checking with CFEF before you apply:
- A Section 504 plan. Section 504 is a different federal law. USBE notes that “a student not found eligible under the IDEA may still be eligible” under Section 504, so a 504 plan on its own may not show an IDEA disability.
- Dyslexia. Utah law says a student with dyslexia is “only eligible for special education services if the student meets federal eligibility criteria” (Utah Code 53E-4-307(6)).
3. What each pays for 2026-27
| Your child’s situation | Utah Fits All (maximum) | Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship (per CFEF) |
|---|---|---|
| Private school, K-12 | Up to $8,000 | $12,175 |
| Home-based, age 5–11 on September 1 | Up to $4,000 | $8,000 |
| Home-based, age 12–18 on September 1 | Up to $6,000 | $8,000 |
| Preschool, part-time (not homeschooled) | Not covered | $2,600 |
| Preschool, full-time (not homeschooled) | Not covered | $4,800 |
| Homeschooled preschooler | Not covered | Not eligible |
For a child who qualifies for both, the CSOS amount is higher in every K-12 row for 2026-27: $4,175 more for private school, and $4,000 or $2,000 more for a home-based student, depending on age.
Two Utah Fits All money rules are worth knowing as you compare. Under UFA, two of every three unused dollars roll over, up to $2,000 in total. For 2026-27, Odyssey funded students who had not selected a school by June 15, 2026 at the home-based amount for their age. Ask CFEF how it handles unused CSOS funds. Our Utah Fits All amounts guide covers the UFA rules in full.
4. Where you apply, and when the money arrives
Utah Fits All: Odyssey, once a year
UFA applications are made on Odyssey’s website. State law sets the yearly window: applications open March 1 for current scholarship students and April 1 for new students, and close May 1. Odyssey has not yet posted 2027-28 dates. For 2026-27, Odyssey closed new applications May 1, 2026 and returning applications May 31, 2026, and on June 17, 2026 it reported a waitlist of “over 8,800 students.”
Odyssey 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, no more than 50% in the third, and no new awards in the fourth.
Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship: CFEF, in rounds
CFEF publishes its 2026-27 timeline by the date an application is approved, not the date it is sent:
| Application approved by | Estimated award and funding |
|---|---|
| June 15, 2026 | Week of July 1, 2026 |
| August 15, 2026 | Week of September 1, 2026 |
| October 15, 2026 | Week of November 2, 2026 |
| December 15, 2026 | Week of January 4, 2027 |
CFEF adds two cautions: “Funding may close at any time once available funds have been exhausted,” and “Scholarship funds may be prorated based on the date of scholarship approval.” CFEF had not posted 2027-28 dates or amounts as of October 1, 2026. Our Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship guide covers the application in more detail.
5. How providers are paid, and how reimbursement works
Utah Fits All. Families can buy from approved vendors in the Odyssey Marketplace, where, in Odyssey’s words, “Odyssey pays vendors directly—you don’t have to pay out of pocket and wait for reimbursement.” Families can also pay a provider themselves and ask Odyssey to reimburse them, under Odyssey’s 2026-27 proof and pricing rules. Our guide to paying for tutoring with Utah Fits All walks through both routes.
Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship. CFEF tells approved service providers they “Receive payment directly from scholarship disbursements for eligible services.” Families can also submit reimbursements by the last day of each month (by 10 PM), and CFEF issues them on the 25th of the following month. We did not find a CFEF statement on whether it reimburses families for a provider that isn’t in its directory, so ask CFEF before you pay one.
Each program keeps its own list of approved providers: the Odyssey Marketplace for UFA, and CFEF’s service provider directory for CSOS, which CFEF says “is being continually updated.” Special Education Resource LLC is an approved provider in the Utah Fits All Odyssey Marketplace. This page makes no claim about paying us with CSOS funds.
6. What each law says about IEP services
Both laws say, in nearly the same words, that taking the scholarship has “the same effect as a parental refusal to consent to services.” The Utah Fits All application has to include a set of acknowledgments the parent agrees to (Utah Code 53F-6-402(4)(b)). Two of them speak directly to disability services:
“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.”
The Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship law says: “Acceptance of a scholarship has the same effect as a parental refusal to consent to services as described in 24 C.F.R. Sec. 300.300” (Utah Code 53E-7-405(5)(d)). That is the statute’s own wording; the Utah Fits All law cites 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.300, the consent rule issued under IDEA.
Utah’s special education rules (June 2023) also describe “Parentally placed private school students with disabilities, including students accessing the Carson Smith Scholarship and Special Needs Opportunity Scholarship Program” (section VI.B.1). “Special Needs Opportunity Scholarship” is an older name USBE still uses in places. Those rules don’t mention Utah Fits All.
What this means for your child’s IEP depends on your child, so take individual questions to your school district or the Utah Parent Center. Our guide to Utah Fits All and your child’s IEP goes further.
7. You can hold only one (and what about legacy Carson Smith?)
USBE’s special needs scholarship page says recipients “can only be enrolled in ONE of the listed scholarships at a time”: the Carson Smith Scholarship, the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship or Utah Fits All. Each program’s own rules say the same, and the UFA law calls for coordination with the Carson Smith programs “to ensure that a student is not receiving duplicate benefits” (Utah Code 53F-6-416).
The legacy Carson Smith Scholarship is a separate, older program run by USBE under Utah Code 53F-4-302. It was “created to award scholarships to students with disabilities to attend a private school,” so it isn’t a way to pay for tutoring. CFEF says legacy students may transfer, and that “Acceptance of the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship award serves as withdrawal from the legacy Carson Smith Scholarship.”
If you are thinking about switching from one scholarship to the other, ask both Odyssey and CFEF before you accept a new award.
8. Questions that usually decide it
No single answer is right for every family. These questions help, and the official answers come from Odyssey and CFEF.
Does your child have a qualifying IDEA disability verified within the last 36 months?
If not, CSOS isn’t available, and Utah Fits All is the scholarship to look at. If so, both may be open to you. If your child’s IEP or evaluation is older than 36 months, ask CFEF what it would need.
Will your child learn at home or attend a private school?
The gap between the two programs depends on the setting (see the table in section 3). For 2026-27, Odyssey required school selection by June 15 for the UFA private-school amount; watch Odyssey for the 2027-28 date. Our guide for homeschool families covers the home-based rules.
Is your child in preschool?
Utah Fits All starts at kindergarten. CSOS has 2026-27 preschool amounts ($2,600 part-time or $4,800 full-time, per CFEF), but homeschooled preschoolers are not eligible.
When do you need the money?
UFA runs on a yearly application cycle; state law says applications close May 1, though in 2026 Odyssey kept returning-student applications open until May 31. CFEF approves CSOS applications in rounds through the year, but funding can close once the money runs out, and later approvals may be prorated. If you are deciding partway through a school year, compare when each program could actually fund your child.
Which providers do you want to use?
If you already know the school, tutor or service you want, check whether they are on the approved list for the scholarship you are considering. The two lists are separate, so a provider may be on one and not the other.
Is your child receiving public-school special education services now?
Both scholarships carry the “parental refusal to consent to services” wording above, and a UFA student can’t stay enrolled in a public school part-time. If those services matter to your family, talk with your district or the Utah Parent Center first.
9. What the general rules say either way
- Districts have duties to find and evaluate children with disabilities. Utah’s special education rules make districts responsible for locating, identifying and evaluating home-schooled students in their boundaries (VI.D.1) and students with disabilities whose parents enroll them in private schools in their area (VI.B.3.a). These rules don’t mention Utah Fits All, so ask your district how they apply to your child.
- Home and private school are not the same as public-school services. Utah’s rules say 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), and the rules for students their parents enroll in private schools contain a similar statement (VI.B.9.a). Ask your district how this applies to your child.
- You can go back to public school. Under UFA, your child may return at any time; you must notify Odyssey within five business days, and the remaining balance is removed. Ask CFEF how a return affects a CSOS award.
- Tutoring is an eligible expense in both laws. Both list “tutoring services,” so academic support can be part of the plan whichever program you choose.
If tutoring is part of your plan, our teachers, who are certified in special education, teach one-to-one online anywhere in Utah. We provide academic tutoring only, not therapy, speech services or evaluations. A free consultation is a good place to start, whichever scholarship you choose.