Updated 3 November 2026
A guide to the money families can use for school, tutoring, therapy and evaluations when a child learns differently. Choose your state below, then read the sections underneath, which apply everywhere.
Each entry shows the date we last checked it and links to the official source. Programs change often. Confirm with the program before you make a financial decision.
Words you will see on this page
- IEP (Individualized Education Program)
- A written plan from your public school district setting out the special education services your child receives. Many programs on this page require one.
- Section 504 plan
- A plan for accommodations at school, such as extra time or seating changes. It is not the same as an IEP, and several programs accept one and not the other. Each entry says which.
- Education savings account
- An account the state funds for your child. You spend it on approved things, often through an online portal, and usually on more than tuition alone.
- Voucher
- Money that goes toward tuition at a participating school. It usually cannot be spent on anything else.
- Tax-credit scholarship
- A scholarship funded by donations, where the donor receives a tax credit. You apply to the scholarship organization, not to the state.
- Federal poverty level
- A yearly income figure set by the federal government and used to decide who qualifies. Programs often set a limit as a percentage of it, such as 300%.
- Adjusted gross income
- Your total income after certain deductions. It is a specific line on your federal tax return.
Choose a state above to see what is available there.
Available everywhere
Help that does not depend on your state program
These apply in all fifty states, including states with no school choice program at all. Several are worth more than a state scholarship.
Evaluations your school district may have to pay for
If you disagree with the school’s evaluation of your child, federal law gives you the right to an independent evaluation paid for by the district. The district has to either pay for it or ask for a hearing to defend its own evaluation. It can ask why you disagree, but it cannot require you to explain, and it cannot delay.
If your child already attends a private or online school, the public district where that school sits still has to find and evaluate them. This is called Child Find. Send your request in writing to that district’s director of special education.
And if a Section 504 team decides your child needs a medical assessment, the school has to arrange it at no cost to you. You do not need a diagnosis before you start.
Claiming special education costs as a medical expense
IRS Publication 502 lets you count as a medical expense what you pay, on a doctor’s recommendation, for tutoring by someone trained to work with children whose learning disabilities come from a physical or mental impairment. Tuition at a special education school can also count, if overcoming the disability is the main reason your child attends and regular schooling is secondary.
Two things have to be true: a doctor recommended it, and the main reason for attending is the disability. Get the recommendation in writing before the tax year starts and keep it. You can only deduct medical expenses above 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, and only if you itemize. Talk to a tax preparer.
529 plans now cover more than tuition
The yearly limit for K-12 expenses rose to $20,000, and the list of what counts grew. It now includes curriculum and books, test fees, dual enrollment, tutoring outside the home where the tutor is not related to your child and is licensed as a teacher in any state, has taught at an eligible school, or is an expert in the subject, and educational therapies for students with disabilities from a licensed or accredited provider, including occupational, behavioral, physical and speech-language therapy.
Coverdell education savings accounts
$2,000 per child per year, from contributors earning under $110,000, or $220,000 filing jointly. For K-12, qualified expenses include academic tutoring and special needs services, alongside tuition, books and equipment. You can put money into a Coverdell and a 529 for the same child in the same year.
ABLE accounts
For a disability that began before age 46. That age was raised from 26, and many sources still show the older number. You can contribute $20,000 in 2026. Education is the first item on the list of qualified expenses. Up to $100,000 in the account does not count against Supplemental Security Income resource limits, and money up to the plan limit does not affect Medicaid, SNAP, Social Security Disability Insurance, housing assistance or federal student aid.
One thing to understand before opening one: after the account holder dies, a state may claim what is left to recover Medicaid costs paid after the account was opened.
Reimbursement when the district has not provided what your child needs
If a district fails to make an appropriate education available and you enroll your child privately, a hearing officer or court may order the district to reimburse you, even if the private school is not state approved.
There is a requirement in this that catches families out. Reimbursement can be reduced or denied unless you told the IEP team, at the last meeting before you withdrew your child, that you were rejecting the placement and intended to enroll privately at public expense, and gave written notice at least ten business days before removing them.
The new federal scholarship tax credit, starting January 2027
From 1 January 2027, a federal tax credit funds scholarship organizations, which then award scholarships to families. You apply to one of those organizations, not to the government. Household income has to be no more than 300% of the area median income, which is a higher limit than most state programs use. Scholarships can cover tuition, tutoring, special education services, books, supplies and equipment.
Two things are not settled. Whether full-time online school tuition counts, and whether a scholarship can be used with a provider in another state. Your state also has to join. States must decide by 1 January 2027, and lists of scholarship organizations go to the IRS by 15 February 2027. Your state’s entry above says where it stands.
Free help
People who will help you at no cost
Your state’s Parent Training and Information Center
Every state has at least one, and there are nearly a hundred across the country. They are funded through federal special education law, and most of what they do is free. They serve families from birth through age 26. They explain your rights, help you work through the special education process, and help you find workshops, support groups, tutors and specialists.
Your state’s Protection and Advocacy agency
Every state and territory has one. They provide legal representation and advocacy for people with disabilities, including education rights. Ask about cost when you call, since the directories do not say.
Free one-to-one tutoring
- Children’s Dyslexia Centers provide free Orton-Gillingham based tutoring twice a week after school, at no charge to families. Open to any child with a dyslexia profile, whatever your income. There are more than 40 centers across Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Call a center directly, or 877-861-0528. Find a center
- Learn To Be offers free one-to-one online tutoring from background-checked volunteers, kindergarten through grade 12. Ask them directly about support for learning differences, since their materials do not cover it. learntobe.org
- Your public library. Many offer free live online tutoring with a library card. Look under Services on your library’s website.
Accessible books
Bookshare is free for qualified students in the United States, funded by the Department of Education. Dyslexia and other specific learning disabilities qualify, and you do not need an IEP or a Section 504 plan. A professional who has assessed your child can confirm eligibility. Learning Ally offers human-narrated audiobooks for $135 a year for the whole household, and reduces or waives the fee for families who need it.
Assistive technology you can try before buying
Every state, the District of Columbia and the territories have an Assistive Technology Act program. They offer device demonstrations, short-term loans so you can try equipment before committing, reuse and exchange programs at reduced cost, and help with financing. Not everything is free, so ask.
Grants
Grants from foundations and charities
Smaller amounts and narrower eligibility than state programs. Amounts and windows below were checked on 3 November 2026.
Autism Care Today
Usually $100 to $5,000 for treatments, assessments and support, paid directly to the provider. Open to any family with a member diagnosed with autism. Households under $100,000 are reviewed first. Four application windows a year: 1 to 31 January, 1 to 30 April, 1 to 31 July, and 1 to 31 October. Their application pages carry older dates, so call 877-922-8863 before relying on one. act-today.org
UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation
Up to $5,000 per child per year and $10,000 over a lifetime, for prescribed medical treatments, equipment and therapies. Your child must be 16 or younger, your family must have commercial health insurance as the primary coverage, and income limits run from $65,000 for a family of two to $170,000 for five or more. Applications are accepted year round.
First Hand Foundation
Covers clinical care including evaluations, equipment including assistive technology, and travel for healthcare. Your child must be 18 or younger. Household income limit is $65,000 for one child, plus $15,000 for each additional child, up to $125,000. Applications are due by the 15th of each month. Payments go to the provider rather than to families. firsthandfoundation.org
Small Steps In Speech
Around $1,000 toward speech-language therapy, therapeutic camps and communication devices. Ages 3 to 22, household income up to $125,000, all fifty states. Deadlines are 1 February, 1 May, 1 August and 1 November. Summer services need the February deadline. smallstepsinspeech.org
Closed now, opening again in winter
MyGOAL gives $1,000 grants to families of children with autism and reopens around February. The Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation’s Joey’s Fund serves Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, and also reopens in February.
If your child has ADHD and no other diagnosis
We could not find a national organization giving families direct grants for ADHD education costs. The money available to ADHD families is in the tax provisions and public entitlements described above, in state programs where ADHD counts as an other health impairment, and in financial aid from schools.
Schools
Financial aid from the school itself
Private schools awarded nearly $3.6 billion in need-based aid last year, and there is no income cutoff. Aid officers look at income, assets, expenses and what you already spend on other children’s education. Home equity counts, but you will not be expected to sell your house.
Three things are worth knowing. Aid is almost always a grant you reapply for every year, not a one-time award. Admission deadlines and aid deadlines are different dates, and most aid applications are due in January or February. And the application fee is often waived automatically if your income qualifies.
Ask any school which application platform they use, what both deadlines are, whether returning families get priority, whether public funding you receive reduces the award, and whether they accept 529 or education savings account money.