North Carolina Education Student Accounts (ESA+)

This ESA program is available to students with special needs who meet the federal definition of a “child with disabilities” under the IDEA. The base amount is $9,000, but $17,000 is available to a student who has one or more of the following disabilities: hearing impairment, moderate or severe intellectual disability, orthopedic impairment, and visual impairment. A student who does not have any of the above-mentioned disabilities could still qualify. The student would need to have one or more of the following conditions: a speech or language impairment, a serious emotional disturbance, a traumatic brain injury, a specific learning disability, or another health impairment. There is no income or enrollment cap. Funding is provided by the state legislature, with a $1 million per-year escalator written into statute through the 2032-2033 school year. A participant must be evaluated by a professional every three years to ensure continued eligibility.  

Funding Mechanism: Appropriation, with escalator 

Universal Eligibility: ❌
Universal Usage: ✅
Universal Funding: ❌
Truly Universal: ❌

(Last updated December 16, 2025)

Qualifying expenses include tuition and fees at participating private schools, textbooks, tutoring, curricula, fees for standardized tests, AP tests, college entrance examinations, account management fees, fees for services and classes offered at a public school, premiums charged to the account holder for any insurance or surety bonds if they are required, therapies, certain technology items, fee-for-service transportation, and transaction or merchant fees charged to an account holder for purchasing another item or service with account funds, not to exceed 2.5% of the cost of the item or service. 

(Last updated December 16, 2025)

View program requirements for parents, schools, and scholarship granting organizations by clicking on each hyperlink.

(Last updated December 16, 2025)

N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 115C-590 through 600 

(Last updated July 14, 2024)