What is an education savings account (ESA)? Arizona explained
Programmes, amounts and rules change. Before acting on anything here, check the current details with the official source named in the answer.
An education savings account is a state-funded account that a parent directs. Instead of the state paying a school directly, the state deposits an amount into the child's account, and the parent spends it on approved education expenses: private school tuition, tutoring, curriculum, educational therapies and similar costs, under the programme's rules and receipts system.
It helps to keep the three main programme types apart. A voucher pays tuition at a participating school. A tax-credit scholarship is funded by private donations that earn the donor a tax credit, and is awarded by a scholarship organization. An ESA gives the parent the account and the wider spending list. Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account, the original ESA, has been open to every Arizona K-12 student since 2022. The Arizona Department of Education puts the award at 90 percent of the state per-pupil funding the child would have generated in a public school, which worked out at roughly $7,105 to $10,540 for most students in 2025-26, with higher amounts for students with disabilities. Parents apply through the Department's ESA programme, sign a contract to use funds only on qualifying expenses, and manage spending through the programme's payment system.
Sources: Arizona Department of Education, Empowerment Scholarship Account programme pages and parent handbook; Amounts as recorded in FCS's verified state file (shared/schoolChoice.ts, checked 2026-10-13). Checked October 2026.