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Understanding the North Carolina opportunity scholarship

Learn about the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship, its benefits, eligibility, and how it supports private education.
Lisa Thorsen
Written byLisa Thorsen
3 min read
Key takeaways
  • The North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship provides financial assistance for private school tuition to all K-12 families, regardless of income
  • To qualify, students must be North Carolina residents, at least 5 years old, and not enrolled in public or publicly funded nonpublic schools
  • Homeschool families should consider the ESA+ program for support.

The North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship helps families pay for private school tuition. Available to all K-12 students in North Carolina, it offers financial support regardless of income.

As of 2024, 12 states have enacted universal or near-universal Education Savings Account (ESA) programs, with Arizona's program alone serving over 75,000 students — making state-funded homeschooling more accessible than ever (EdChoice, 2024). According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), approximately 3.3 million students were homeschooled in the United States as of 2023, representing roughly 6% of the school-age population.

What’s the North Carolina opportunity scholarship?

The North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Program is a state-funded initiative. It helps families pay for private school tuition. Launched in 2013 and active from the 2014-15 school year, it expanded in 2023. Now, every K-12 family in North Carolina can apply, no matter their income. This program is managed by the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) and covers costs for registered private schools across the state.

Who can apply?

To qualify for the scholarship, students must be:

  • Residents of North Carolina.
  • At least 5 years old by August 31 (or 4 by April 16 with kindergarten approval).
  • Enrolled in grades K-12. They can’t be in public school or a nonpublic school at public expense at the same time. Foster kids automatically get the highest awards. Income doesn’t affect eligibility anymore, but it does impact the award amount. Lower-income families receive bigger scholarships and get priority when funds run low.

Key takeaways

The Opportunity Scholarship gives significant financial help to families choosing private education in North Carolina. Thanks to the 2023 expansion, it’s available to everyone, regardless of income. However, if you’re homeschooling, this program won’t benefit you directly. Families with kids who have disabilities should check out NC’s ESA+ program instead, which covers homeschool costs. For all others, you need to enroll in a participating private school to use the Opportunity Scholarship.

Frequently Asked Questions

Lisa Thorsen
Written by
Lisa Thorsen

Co-founder, BetterSchool

Lisa is the co-founder of BetterSchool and a homeschool mom of three. BetterSchool administers the largest independent homeschool community in the country — over 350,000 families across all 50 states.

When COVID hit, Lisa and her husband pulled their children out of school and hit the road. Homeschooling wasn't the plan — it was a necessity. But somewhere along the way, the family fell in love with it: the time together, the ability to tailor lessons to each child's interests, learning at their own pace, the freedom to travel, eating healthy on their own schedule, and the countless other benefits that come with homeschooling.

As they traveled, Lisa kept discovering incredible hands-on learning experiences that most homeschool families had no way of finding. She built BetterSchool to make it easy for every family to find and book the experiences that make learning come alive.

Through her community, Lisa has helped hundreds of thousands of parents navigate homeschooling, while also helping local businesses find and serve the homeschool community. She is the former managing partner of a law firm focused on business law and mergers and acquisitions — BetterSchool is her second technology startup. She holds a J.D. from California Western School of Law and a B.A. from Penn State.

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Table of Contents

  • What’s the North Carolina opportunity scholarship?
  • Who can apply?
  • Key takeaways
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