THE INDIANA EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP ACCOUNT (INESA) PROGRAM

By Jackie Guglielmo-Executive Director

The Indiana State Treasurer’s Office is excited to announce its newest initiative, The Indiana Education Scholarship Account (INESA) Program, established just this year. Its mission is to provide Indiana’s students access to the educational environment that best meets their learning needs by granting eligible students with scholarship money that may be used for pre-approved educational programs, therapies, services, tuition and fees, and other expenses related to the student’s education.

At this time, a student must meet the following criteria to be considered eligible: a student with disabilities for whom an Individualized Education program (IEP) or Individualized Service Plan (ISP) has been created, have primary residency in the state of Indiana, meet the income requirement of 300% of the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch income level, and be between the ages of 5 and 22 years old.

A student may not be enrolled at a traditional public or public charter school during the year in which they are using an Education Scholarship Account. However, an eligible student with an ESA may use funds to purchase services from a traditional public or public charter school, such as courses, if the school has applied to participate with the program. Current non-public school students can apply to participate in the INESA program as long as they meet the eligibility and income requirements. The non-public school that will be accepting payments through the INESA account must apply and be approved as a participating provider. A student may choose between an INESA account, or participating in the Choice Scholarship Program, but may not qualify for both in the same school year.

Once students have applied and are approved to participate in the program, they will have an account established that will contain 90% of their tuition support dollars. In addition, however, families who opt not to receive special education services through either the public or nonpublic school would also be entitled to 100% of their child’s state special education dollars. This may afford families the flexibility to further customize their child’s educational experience. Funds will be deposited into individualized accounts in quarterly disbursements throughout the year. The ESA account may be accessed solely via an online portal, through which parents or students may log into to initiate payment for services provided. Debit cards will not be distributed and reimbursements for payments made with personal debit or credit cards will not be issued.

Families can look forward to a variety of potential providers who are also able to apply to participate in the INESA Program, including non-public schools, tutors, service providers like mental health counselors, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, and board-certified behavior analysts, just to name a few. They may also use the funds to pay organizations that offer courses, programs, or camps that meet the needs of eligible students.

These participating providers may be paid for pre-approved educational expenses. Qualified expenses include tuition and fees at a non-public school, private tutoring, paraprofessionals or educational aides, educational courses, services or programs, fee for service transportation to and from an INESA approved provider, and fees for assessments and examinations.

The INESA program is projected to launch in the 2022-2023 school year. For more information, please visit our website at www.in.gov/tos/inesa or email the Executive Director, Jackie Guglielmo at jguglielmo@tos.in.gov.

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