TEFA Income Limits
This is where most families get tripped up:
- Homeschool families and any non-accredited program: $2,000 per year, flat. This is confirmed by the state's own program materials, Comptroller releases, and the final program rules. It doesn't matter how many kids you have in a co-op or how much your program costs: the homeschool tier is $2,000.
- Accredited private schools: up to $10,474 per year, paid in installments (roughly 25% / 25% / 50% across the year).
- Students with disabilities enrolled at an accredited private school: up to $30,000 per year.
That third number needs a caveat, and it's the piece families most often get wrong. Based on the state's own materials, the $30,000 disability tier appears to require enrollment at an accredited private school, not a homeschool or co-op setting. In other words, a homeschooled child with a diagnosed disability does not automatically qualify for the $30,000 tier just by having the diagnosis. The accreditation status of the program still seems to be the gate. The state's language on this point is genuinely ambiguous, so treat this as our best read of the rules, not a guarantee. If your family is counting on disability funding, confirm directly with the Comptroller's office or your TEFA vendor before you plan around it.
For scale: of the 102,037 students approved in the state's June 2026 fact sheet, about 70% planned to attend private school and about 30% planned to homeschool. That's roughly 30,600 homeschooling students receiving the $2,000 award (our own arithmetic on the published split, not a number the state publishes directly).
Frequently asked questions
What does TEFA mean?
TEFA stands for Texas Education Freedom Account, the state's new education savings account program. It gives approved families a state-funded account to pay for tuition, tutoring, and other eligible education expenses at approved schools and vendors.
Who qualifies for the TEFA program in Texas?
Eligibility is decided through the state's application and approval process, run by the Comptroller's office and Odyssey, not by homeschool status alone. Roughly 77% of the first approved round had household income under $66,000. Check educationfreedom.texas.gov for the current eligibility rules before assuming your family does or doesn't qualify.
Does Texas pay parents for homeschooling?
Yes, through TEFA. Homeschooling families who are approved receive $2,000 per year into an account they can spend on eligible expenses. It isn't a cash payment to the family directly; it flows through the Odyssey platform to approved vendors.
How much money do you get for homeschooling in Texas?
Homeschooling families approved for TEFA receive $2,000 per year, regardless of how many activities or programs the child is enrolled in. Families at an accredited private school can receive up to $10,474, and disability-related awards at accredited schools can go up to $30,000. See "Who Gets How Much" above for the full breakdown.