All students who live in the state of Arkansas and are eligible for public schooling in this state are eligible to sign up and participate in the Education Freedom Accounts. These accounts provide funding for curricula, co-ops, co-curricular classes, extra curricular (at a 25% of funding spending cap) and therapies and testing needed for special needs students.

Each student enrolled for the 2025-2026 school year will receive $6,864 per school year. This is dispersed into your student’s CLASSWALLET account quarterly at $1,716 per deposit. It is important to note that if approved for this fall, you can NOT spend money before July 1st of this year and use those receipts for reimbursement this fall. The fiscal year of the 2025-2026 school year begins on July 1, 2025.

If your child is already funded for the 2024-2025 school year and you still have funds in your wallet, those funds can be used at any time,e even during summer months, to purchase school needs. Any funds not used when the new school year starts new funds will be added but your existing funds will remain available for use.

Many ask what can be spent on certain items. There is a spending limit in place for large purchases. Every student can spend up to $1,000 annually on a combination of computers, tablets, and accessories. These devices can ONLY be replaced every 3 years. With this in mind I can share my personal choices to help others consider their needs. For my three elementary age children I spent $500 each on a touch screen laptop that had a lifetime license for Microsoft office. AND I spent $500 each on a 10th generation Ipad. But, my highschoolers both had ipads already that are currently still just new enough to update fully so could wait for replacement. Their laptops on the other hand, not so much…This past school year both girls spent the full $1,000 each to get high quality fast laptops with excellent storage space and a lifetime license to office programs so that these will last them through all of highschool and beyond. Then, this coming school year we will upgrade both girls to new ipads. Both take multiple creative art and animation classes that utilize procreate and other apps on the ipad.

There are several other items that have a spending limits imposed. The most controversial but we here fully support the law is a 25% cap on extracurricular activities. This means sports, karate, taekwondo, gymnastics, riding can NOT exceed 25% of the yearly funding in cost. Art, Music lessons, Theater, home ec courses, woodshop courses, metal working courses etc. are co-curricular classes not extracurricular. Co-curricular are not part of the 25% cap. Other limits are as follows:

Headphones $100

Projector $500

Printer $500

Printer ink/ toner/ paper $300

Yes, you can buy a student desk and chair, and you can buy a bookshelf for each student for storage of their books and supplies. There is no exact set limit, but the ADE will NOT approve a matching office furniture set for your home. Do not expect approval for something from Ashley Furniture or Pottery Barn. But the IKEA billy shelves ( and if you need all the storage possible, the stackable unit that makes it ceiling height) are very reasonably priced. Many bookcases under $300 will more than hold your student’s needs. Same with desks, $200 and under would be considered a reasonable student desk. $100-$150 would be a reasonable chair. The ADE acknowledges that having a set workspace is beneficial to students but in the same this program is here to help you EDUCATE your student not redecorate.

There are items prohibited in the program.

Backpacks

Lunchboxes

Paper towels

Ziploc bags

Wet wipes

Equipment for extracurricular activites

Musical instruments

Cameras

Televisions

Sound equipment

Gaming consoles

Smart watches

Fit bits

Alexa, Nest or google home devices

Cell Phones

Subsciptions purchased on a phone

These items are not reimbursable under any circumstances.

Curriculum from ANY store of your choice is ALWAYS reimbursable. There are many options available through the classwallet market because obviously paying ahead and waiting for reimbursement is not an option every family has the means to utilize.

But if you have a preferred coursework that is not signed up with classwallet you are absolutely able to buy it and submit it for reimbursement. I personally order mine that way even though it is available in the Market because AOP if you order over the phone offers a 25% discount to active duty and veteran families. Many other companies offer the same.

This is an important part of this program. You have 100% freedom of choice when it comes to curriculum. No other state is giving this much freedom. It becomes a big factor for families who prefer a religious-based company. Many of those will not participate directly in any state programs. But if you can do reimbursement, that will not matter.

As with all government entities they run of a fiscal year. This monetary spending year does not generally follow the calendar year. In Arkansas the fiscal year for each school year and its budget runs from July 1st through June 30th the following year. What this means for funding if this coming fall will be your first year in the program is that money you spend before the fiscal year starts on July 1st cannot be reimbursed as it cannot be counted as a purchase for the school year you are being funded for if you bought it during the previous school year. If you need to direct pay or use the class wallet marketplace you will have to wait until the funding date in August to make purchases. If you can do reimbursement, then anything purchased after July 1st can be submitted. Ordering items right at July 1st though may not be ideal if you are using credit to purchase. The first payments will be mid to late August, and this would cause you to incur interest charges on the purchase if you made it right on July 1st. So, consider all factors when making those decisions.