Short answer: your CHOOSE Act Education Savings Account covers far more than private school tuition. Curriculum, textbooks, tutoring, online learning programs, educational software, and certain therapies are all eligible categories, and you spend the money through ClassWallet, Alabama's payment platform. Homeschooling families in particular are often surprised by how much of their actual materials list qualifies. Here is the plain-English version of what the money covers, how to spend it, and what to avoid.
First, the basics of the CHOOSE Act
- How much: up to $7,000 per student in a participating school, and up to $2,000 per homeschooled student (with a $4,000 family cap for homeschool students).
- Who qualifies now: the 2026-27 program year is limited by income and priority groups, and the program opens to all Alabama families in 2027-28. If you were not eligible this year, next year you likely will be.
- How you spend it: nothing is reimbursed to your bank account. You spend through ClassWallet, the state's platform, either in its marketplace or by paying an approved education service provider directly.
The approved categories, with real examples
1. Tuition and fees
The headline use: tuition at a participating private school. If your child attends one, this is usually where most of the $7,000 goes.
2. Curriculum and textbooks
Complete curricula and the books that go with them. For homeschool families this is the core category: math programs, language arts, science kits, history, and structured reading curricula all fit here.
3. Tutoring
Tutoring from approved providers. Worth knowing before you spend: certified structured-literacy tutors typically run $80 to $120 an hour, which consumes a $2,000 homeschool allotment in about five weeks of twice-a-week sessions. We wrote an honest breakdown in what reading tutors cost.
4. Educational software and online learning
Online curricula, learning apps, and educational software subscriptions from approved vendors. This category stretches your dollars furthest because a single license often covers a full year of instruction. A $399 annual license leaves most of a homeschool allotment for everything else, where the same year of skill-building through a tutor would cost thousands.
One example in this category: A New Page, our structured-literacy reading program for struggling and dyslexic readers ages 3 to 18, is an approved CHOOSE Act education service provider. Families can pay for the $399 annual license with CHOOSE funds through ClassWallet, and it covers every child in the household. If your child fights reading every night, start with the free reading check first so you know exactly where they stand before you spend anything.
5. Education services and therapies
Services for students with disabilities, including certain therapies from approved providers. If your child has a diagnosed learning disability such as dyslexia, ask the program office what documentation opens this category for you.
What you cannot buy
- Anything from a vendor or provider who is not approved in the program. Check before you commit money.
- General household items, electronics without a clear educational purpose, and entertainment subscriptions.
- Anything outside the program year's rules. Categories and caps can shift year to year, and the program office has the final word on every purchase.
How to actually spend it (the ClassWallet part)
- Marketplace purchases: log in to ClassWallet, shop the marketplace, and check out with your CHOOSE funds. No money leaves your pocket.
- Direct pay: for approved education service providers, you pay the provider straight from your ClassWallet account.
- Keep everything. Receipts, invoices, and your child's progress documentation. Clean records make every future approval easier.
A smart order of operations for a struggling reader
If reading is the battle in your house, here is the sequence we would use with a $2,000 homeschool allotment:
- Step 1, free: run the free reading check so you know your child's exact level and the specific skill that is breaking down. No funds spent.
- Step 2, $399: a year of structured-literacy instruction through A New Page, built at the exact level the check found, for every child in the family.
- Step 3, the remaining ~$1,600: books your child can actually decode, the rest of your curriculum, and targeted tutoring hours only if the data says you need them.