What an Indiana ESA can pay for, and what the voucher can't
The Education Scholarship Account is the one Indiana program that pays for more than tuition. For students with an Indiana IEP, service plan or CSEP it can reach $20,000 a year, spent through ClassWallet. Each category below compares the ESA with the Choice voucher and SGO grants, using IDOE's rules for 2026-27.
At a school
Learning at home
Services for students with disabilities
Therapies: speech, OT, PT, ABA and more
Educational therapies are the reason many Indianapolis families choose the ESA over the voucher: an approved, licensed provider can be paid from the account, in person or online.
Rules →Services for students with disabilitiesTutoring, teaching and classroom aides
An ESA can pay a credentialed tutor or teaching service, and a paraprofessional aide when the plan calls for one. It cannot pay a parent for teaching their own child.
Rules →Services for students with disabilitiesTransportation to services
Getting to an approved provider can be paid, within a firm annual cap and only through a fee-for-service transportation company.
Rules →Services for students with disabilitiesPhysician-prescribed services
Beyond the plan, the ESA can pay for extra services and therapies a treating physician prescribes, with the prescription on file.
Rules →Beyond the classroom
Camps, training programs and life-skills classes
Programs focused on academic, vocational, life, independence or job skills can be paid from an ESA when the person or facility running them has credentials.
Rules →Beyond the classroomExtracurriculars, field trips and public-school classes
An ESA student can buy a single class or activity from a public school that agrees, along with sports and educational events, without being enrolled there.
Rules →Beyond the classroomTests, exams and prep courses
ESA money can pay for national standardized tests, AP and CLEP exams, IB and Cambridge courses, college-admission exams and prep classes for them.
Rules →Not covered
Who can use an Indiana ESA to buy these things?
Students aged five to 22 on October 1 who live in Indiana and have an active Indiana IEP, service plan or CSEP, plus their siblings, who can receive up to $8,000. Therapies are limited to the student with the disability.
How do purchases work in an Indiana ESA?
Through ClassWallet. Approved schools and providers invoice the account, ClassWallet Marketplace vendors sell approved items directly, and IDOE's 2026-27 guidance allows parent reimbursement under Direct Pay rules with proper documentation.
Can the Choice voucher pay for any of these categories?
Only tuition and the fees a Choice school reports on the application. Everything else on this page is ESA territory, or occasionally an SGO's, depending on that SGO's policy.
| ESA | Choice voucher | SGO scholarship | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuition | Yes, at approved schools | Yes | Usually |
| Therapies and tutors | Yes | No | Depends on the SGO |
| Curriculum and supplies | Yes | Only school fees | Books and supplies listed |
| Devices | Only inside approved categories | No | Technology listed |
Want an ESA spending plan?
A counselor maps your child's likely ESA amount to the categories that fit and to metro providers already approved in ClassWallet.