Step by Step Guide: How to Apply for an ESA -

More and more families are exercising their right to school choice and are leaving the public school system. This school year we also joined the masses and unenrolled our 7 year old daughter from the school system. She is diagnosed level 2 autistic and ADHD homeschool has offered us change in pace. When you unenroll your child from the public school system in Arizona you have access to something called an Empowerment Scholarship Account Program (ESA).

This scholarship allows parents or guardians to use the funds to pay for private school, hire tutors, purchase curriculum, enroll child in extra circulars, and so much more. Education can be expensive and this fund helps alleviate some of those expenses from families who don’t utilize the public school system. Here is the step by step guide on how to apply for the scholarship.

Step 1: Get together the following information for your child:

Student’s Birth Certificate
Proof of Residency in the parent or guardians name. Provide one document that shows the residents address e. AZ drivers license, motor vehicle registration, W-2, bank statement, etc.
If student has a disability you will need the MET/ Evaluation Report, or the IEP

Step 2: Go to azed.gov/esa

Step 3: Scroll mid way down the page and hit the big blue button that says “Apply Now for the 2022-2023 School Year”

Step 4: Click the big blue button to apply under “universal”.

Step 5: Create or Login to an ADEConnect account. If you do not have one, follow the prompts and fill out the information needed. If you do have one head to the login screen.

Step 6: Once in your ESA Applicant Portal you will then hit the little green button that says “Create New Application”.