Can students with an education savings account utilize the other state-sponsored scholarship programs?
For students who qualify for the Opportunity Scholarship Program, they may utilize both. For students who have one of the following disabilities, they may utilize education savings account funds in addition to the current Children with Disabilities Grant:
- Autism
- Developmental disability
- Hearing impairment
- Moderate or severe intellectual disability
- Multiple, permanent, orthopedic impairments
- Visual impairment
Who is administering the program?
The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority will administer and award scholarship funds, regulate the use of funds and the reporting of expenditures, and monitor and control scholarship funds deposited into education savings accounts.
What are the financial accountability measures?
- The Authority may contract with a private financial management firm or institution to manage the education savings accounts.
- The Authority shall conduct annual audits and may audit a random sampling of accounts to ensure compliance.
- The Authority may remove a program participant and close the education savings account for failure to comply or because the
student is no longer eligible for the program.
- The Authority will report the number of substantiated cases of fraud by recipients and the number of parents or students removed from the program for noncompliance.
What was appropriated in the Senate budget?
2017-18: $450,000 to establish the program
2018-19: $1,000,000 to award scholarship funds