Education Scholarship Trust Fund

2025-2026 Bill 692: Education Scholarship Trust Fund - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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S. 692
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senator Hembree
Document Path: SEDU-0033DB26.docx
Introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the Senate
Summary: Education Scholarship Trust Fund
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/10/2025

Senate

Prefiled

12/10/2025

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Education

1/13/2026

Senate

Introduced and read first time (
Senate Journal-page 18
)

1/13/2026

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Education
(
Senate Journal-page 18
)

1/14/2026

Scrivener's error corrected

1/21/2026

Scrivener's error corrected

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/10/2025
12/10/2025-A
01/14/2026
01/21/2026
01/21/2026-A

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTION
59-8-110
, RELATING TO EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP TRUST FUND DEFINITIONS, SO
AS TO FURTHER DEFINE ELIGIBLE EXPENSES TO INCLUDE EDUCATION CLASSES DESIGNED TO
SUPPLEMENT A STUDENT'S LEARNING PROGRAM PROVIDED BY AN ELIGIBLE SCHOOL AND TO
FURTHER REMOVE ANY OTHER EDUCATION EXPENSES APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT TO
ENABLE PERSONALIZED LEARNING; AND BY AMENDING SECTION
59-8-115
, RELATING TO THE
STANDARD APPLICATION PROCESS, SO AS TO REQUIRE A PARENT TO CERTIFY THAT AN
ELIGIBLE STUDENT IS NOT PARTICIPATING IN A HOME BASED PERSONALIZED LEARNING
PROGRAM NOT SPECIFICALLY APPROVED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION AS PROVIDED
IN SECTION
59-65-10
AND TO DELETE A PROVISION ALLOWING A PARENT'S SIGNATURE TO
SATISFY THE STATE'S COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE LAW.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
S
ection
59-8-110
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

S
ection
59-8-110
.
F
or purposes of this chapter:

(
1)
"Department" means the South Carolina Department of Education.

(
2)
"Education Scholarship Trust Fund," "ESTF," or "fund" means the individual
account that is administered by the department to which funds are allocated to
the parent of an eligible student to pay for qualifying expenses.

(
3)
"Eligible school" means a South Carolina public school or a nonprofit South
Carolina independent school where a student is enrolled full time, that chooses
to participate in the program. "Eligible school" does not include a school in
which a member of the General Assembly or an immediate family member of a
member of the General Assembly has any direct financial interest. For purposes
of this section, "immediate family member" means as defined in Section
8-13-100
(18). "Eligible school" does not include a charter school.

(
4)
"Eligible student" means a student who:

(
a)
is a resident of this State; and

(
b)
(
i) has attained at least the age of
five on or before September first of the school year in which scholarship funds
are awarded;

(
ii)
in School Year 2025-2026, has a household income that does not exceed three
hundred percent of the federal poverty guidelines; and

(
iii)
in School Year 2026-2027, and all subsequent years has a household income that
does not exceed five hundred percent of the federal poverty guidelines.

"
Eligible student"
does not include students participating in the Educational Credit for
Exceptional Needs Children's Fund program, as provided in Section
12-6-3790
or
a student who is not subject to the compulsory attendance requirements of
Section
59-65-10
.

(
5)
"IDEA" means the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act found in 20 U.S.C.
Section 1400, et seq.

(
6)
"Parent" means a resident of this State who is the natural or adoptive parent,
legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to act on
behalf of an eligible student.

(
7)
"Education service provider" means a person or organization approved by the
department that receives payments from ESTF to provide educational goods and
services to scholarship students.

(
8)
"Program" means the ESTF program created by this chapter.

(
9)
"Resident school" means the public school in which the student is zoned for
attendance.

(
10)
"Scholarship" means education funding allocated from an account established
pursuant to this chapter.

(
11)
"Scholarship student" means an eligible student who is participating in the
Education Scholarship Trust Fund program.

(
12)
"Substantial misuse" means wilfully and knowingly receiving or spending any
portion of a scholarship for any purpose other than a qualifying expense.

(
13)
"Trustee" means the individual or entity appointed by the State Superintendent
of Education pursuant to Section
59-8-120
(A)(2).

(
14)
"Qualifying expense" means:

(
a)
tuition and fees for attendance at an education service provider or eligible
school;

(
b)
textbooks, curriculum, or other instructional materials including, but not
limited to, any supplemental materials or associated online instruction
required by either a curriculum or an education service provider;

(
c)
tutoring services approved by the department;

(
d)
computer hardware or other technological devices that are used primarily for a
scholarship student's educational needs and approved by the department or a
licensed physician;

(
e)
tuition and fees for an approved online education service provider or course;

(
f)
fees for approved:

(
1)
national norm-referenced examinations, advanced placement examinations, or
similar assessments;

(
2)
industry certification exams; or

(
3)
examinations related to college or university admission;

(
g)
educational services for pupils with disabilities from a licensed or accredited
practitioner or provider including, but not limited to, occupational,
behavioral, physical, and speech-language therapies;

(
h)
approved contracted services from a public school district, or a public charter
school including individual classes, after school tutoring services,
transportation, or fees or costs associated with participation in
extracurricular activities;

(
i)
contracted teaching services and education classes

designed to supplement a students learning program provided by an eligible
school and
approved by the department;

(
j)
fees for transportation paid to a fee-for-service transportation provider for
the scholarship student to travel to and from an eligible provider as defined
in this section, but not to exceed three thousand dollars for each school year;

(
k)
fees for interdistrict public school transfers;

(
l)
cost of school uniforms which are required for attendance;

or

(
m)
any consumables and items necessary to complete a curriculum or that are
otherwise applicable to a course of study that has been approved by the
department
; or
.

(
n) any other educational expense
approved by the department to enable personalized learning consistent with the
intent of this act.

A
qualifying expense
does not mean a duplicate service already offered as part of a student's
enrollment in school.

S
ECTION 2.
S
ection
59-8-115
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

S
ection
59-8-115
.
(
A) The department shall
create a standard application process and timeline for parents to establish the
eligibility of their student for the Education Scholarship Trust Fund program.
Beginning November first of every year, an early application window will be
opened for current participants of this program who continue to meet the
criteria of an eligible student, and their siblings. The department shall
continue to accept applications for the ESTF program on a rolling basis until
capacity is met and then shall maintain a waitlist to maximize program
participation.

(
B)
Pursuant to the timeline established pursuant to subsection (A), the department
shall ensure the following:

(
1)
applications must be processed in the order in which they are received, within
each of the priority and general application windows;

(
2)
after the conclusion of the application window for current participants and
their siblings, a priority application window for new program participants must
be open for students who meet the following criteria:

(
a)
has a parent or guardian who is an active-duty member of the Armed Forces of
the United States and will be living in South Carolina as a result of their
duty station;

(
b)
has a household income that does not exceed three hundred percent of the
federal poverty guidelines; or

(
c)
attended a public school in the previous academic year;

(
3)
once the priority application windows have closed, the general application
window must open for any student who did not meet the early application window
criteria; and

(
4)
within thirty days of submission of all required documentation, award letters
must be enrolled and issued, and the student's online account must be created.

(
C)
Before awarding a scholarship, the department must obtain evidence of all other
student eligibility criteria set forth in Section
59-8-110
.

(
D)
The department shall approve an initial application for scholarship if:

(
1)
the parent submits an application for a scholarship in accordance with the
application and procedures established by the department;

(
2)
the student on whose behalf the parent is applying is an eligible student;

(
3)
funds are available for the ESTF; and

(
4)
the parent annually attests to the following:

(
a)
to provide, at a minimum, a program of academic instruction for the eligible
student in at least the subjects of English/language arts to include writing,
mathematics, social studies, and science;

(
b)
to ensure the scholarship student takes assessments as referenced in Section
59-8-150
or provides assessments in a similar manner through other means if the
scholarship student does not receive full-time instruction from an education
service provider;

(
c)
to use the scholarship for qualifying expenses only for an approved provider to
educate the scholarship student, subject to penalty;

(
d)
not to enroll their scholarship student in a public school as a full-time
student in the resident school, as defined in this chapter;

(
e)
not to participate in a home instruction program under Section
59-65-40
,
59-65-45
, or
59-65-47
, or other home-based personalized
learning program not specifically approved by the State Board of Education as
provided in Section
59-65-10
;

(
f)
that includes parental acknowledgement that the nonpublic school education
service providers are not subject to IDEA and are not required to offer the
same services as the public school system to which their child is zoned for
attendance. A parent does have the ability to request an evaluation and
determination of possible eligibility from their resident school district; and

(
g)
to confirm that, if the parent's child is a student with disabilities, the
parent has received notice from the department that participation in the ESTF
program is a parental placement of the scholarship student under IDEA, along
with an explanation of the rights that parentally placed students possess under
IDEA and any applicable state laws and regulations, including the consultation
process provided for in 20 U.S.C. Section 1412(a)(10) and the Individual
Education Program requirements described in Section 1414(d) of IDEA.

(
E)
The department shall make available on its website in a conspicuous location
information in conformity with 34 C.F.R. Sections 300.130 through 300.144,
Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities,
explaining to parents the rights of children with disabilities under IDEA both
in public schools and as parentally placed students in private schools.

(
F)
Personal deposits into an ESTF account are prohibited.

(
G)
Funds received pursuant to this section do not constitute taxable income to the
parent of the scholarship student or to the student.

(
H) A parent's signed agreement under
subsection (D)(4) satisfies the state's compulsory attendance law pursuant to
Section
59-65-10
.

(I)
(
H)
The State Board of Education may promulgate
regulations for the administration of the program as may be applicable.

(J)
(
I)
The department may contract with qualified
organizations to administer the program application process or specific
functions, maintenance, and monitoring of the program application process as
required above.

(K)
(
J)
Students must be considered enrolled in the program
until the parent notifies the department of a decision to terminate
participation or the department determines that the student is no longer
eligible.

S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on January 21, 2026 at 1:29 PM