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North Carolina parents · 7 min read

What Can You Buy With North Carolina ESA+ Funds?

What your North Carolina education funds cover for reading and curriculum, how it works, and what is allowed.

Art from The Dig, episode 2: the stone stairway opening down into the earth

From The Dig · Episode 2“Every mark lit gold in the order you had read them… and a stone stairway spiraled down into the earth.”

See the North Carolina steps

Program rules change; your program office has the final word on every purchase.

The short version

  1. Your North Carolina ESA+ covers more than tuition.
  2. Curriculum, educational software, and materials are eligible, and you access it through SEAA's approved educational apps list, with reimbursement.
  3. Amounts and rules shift year to year, so confirm the live number with your program before you buy.

Short answer: your North Carolina ESA+ covers more than tuition. Curriculum, educational software, and materials are eligible, and you access it through SEAA's approved educational apps list, with reimbursement. North Carolina's ESA+ reimburses educational apps for a child with a disability once SEAA has pre-approved them. Here is the plain-English version for a struggling reader, and the smartest way to spend it.

The basics

  • How much: $9,000 to $17,000 per student.
  • Status: Not yet North Carolina funds do not pay for A New Page yet, because we are still being approved. The program is active for students with a disability. Amounts and rules shift year to year, so confirm the live number with your program before you buy. Status as of October 15, 2026.
  • How you access it: SEAA's approved educational apps list, with reimbursement. Keep every receipt and your child's progress documentation.

What reading families can buy

  • Curriculum and textbooks, including a full structured-literacy reading curriculum.
  • Educational software and online learning from approved vendors, the category that stretches your dollars furthest because one annual license covers a full year of instruction.
  • Tutoring from approved providers. Certified structured-literacy tutors run $80 to $120 an hour, so see what reading tutors cost before you commit.
  • Services and therapies for a student with a documented disability such as dyslexia.

Ready to try one night together?

Start the free reading checkor read one night free, no account

7 days free. No card.

What you cannot buy

  • Anything from a vendor who is not approved in the program. Check before you commit money.
  • General household goods and entertainment subscriptions.
  • Anything outside the program year's rules. Your North Carolina program office has the final word on every purchase.
Art from Critter Clinic, episode 6: The Lost Litter
From Critter Clinic · Episode 6“One more in the wood-pile. One more curled inside an old boot. Warm mark by warm mark, the map never led you wrong, and each little one came home safe in your hands.”

One example in the software category

A New Page is a structured-literacy program, from first sounds to confident reading, for struggling and dyslexic readers ages 3 to 18, built on the science of reading. A free reading check finds the safest place for your child to start, then explicit phonics is delivered inside illustrated stories your child unlocks by reading aloud. It is offered as a one-time $299 annual reading-curriculum license for one student, purchased with that student’s funds. Start with the free reading check before you spend anything.

A smart order of operations

  1. Step 1, free: the free reading check finds the right place to start and the skill that is breaking down.
  2. Step 2, $299: a full year of structured-literacy instruction through A New Page, for one student.
  3. Step 3, the rest: decodable books, the remainder of your curriculum, and targeted tutoring only if the data says you need it.

Program rules, amounts, and eligibility change; your North Carolina program office has the final word on every purchase. This guide is educational, not legal or tax advice. Status as of October 15, 2026.

North Carolina families: see exactly how to use your funds for A New Page

$299 a year for one student. North Carolina funds don’t pay for A New Page yet; we’re finishing NCSEAA approval. Where North Carolina stands →

See the North Carolina steps

Not sure your child needs it? The reading check is free, no account and no card (we keep only your email; your child's name stays on your device), and you keep the result either way.

Keep reading

Emberwing: Grandpa places a glowing dragon egg into a child's hands at dusk

What A New Page is

A reading program you do together, at home.

Fifteen minutes a night, side by side, from first sounds to confident reading, for ages 3 to 18. Your child reads the hero’s lines in a real story, built only from the sounds your child has learned. You read the rest from a script, so you never have to guess what to say.

Start your free week

Fifteen minutes a night.
A real story.

Start the free reading checkor read one night free, no account

7 days free. No card.