Tennessee IEA: Individualized Education Account

If your child has an IEP, Tennessee’s Individualized Education Account (IEA) program puts state education funds in your hands for approved educational expenses, including homeschool curriculum, tutoring, and digital materials. The IEA allows independent homeschooling, which makes it the Tennessee program homeschool families can use for curriculum today. The yearly amount is set by a state funding formula and varies by school district (2026-27 IEA Program Handbook).

Who qualifies?

Students entering kindergarten through grade 12 with an active Tennessee IEP listing one of these qualifying disabilities: autism, deafness, deaf-blindness, developmental delay, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, specific learning disability, traumatic brain injury, or visual impairment. Students must also have attended a Tennessee public school for the full prior school year, be eligible to start kindergarten in Tennessee for the first time, have moved to Tennessee within the past year, or be renewing an IEA from the prior year.

Eligible expenses include:

  • Homeschool curriculum and digital materials
  • Tutoring services
  • Educational therapies
  • Approved technology devices

Curriculum purchases do not need pre-approval. Families spend their funds with an IEA debit card and submit receipts each quarter.

Applications for 2026-27 are closed. The 2027-28 application window is projected to open February 16, 2027 at app.iea.tnedu.gov. Learn more at tn.gov/education/iea. Questions: IEA.Questions@tn.gov

Tennessee Education Freedom Scholarship

The Education Freedom Scholarship (EFS) is worth $7,530 for the 2026-27 school year, but it is not a homeschool program. Students must enroll in a Category I, II, or III private school registered with EFS, and enrollment in an independent home school is not permitted (Tennessee school choice program comparison). Tennessee’s ESA pilot for Memphis-Shelby, Nashville, and Hamilton County is private school only as well. EFS applications for 2026-27 are closed, and new applications open each year.

Priority eligibility:

  • Income-eligible families
  • Students currently in Tennessee public schools
  • Incoming Kindergarteners
  • Current IEA and ESA participants

Eligible expenses:

  • Tuition and fees at an EFS-registered private school (these must be paid first)
  • Other approved items through the EFS Marketplace, once tuition and fees are covered

Learn more: tn.gov/education/efs

Ready to Shop with Your Tennessee Funds?

Families on the IEA can use their funds for curriculum like ours, with no pre-approval needed. Just keep your receipt for your quarterly expense report. Not on the IEA? You can always buy our curriculum directly. We offer grade-level education guides, seasonal curriculum packs, and more.

Something to watch for: Tennessee has opted into the new federal tax credit scholarship starting in 2027. It will be run through private scholarship organizations, each with its own rules, so it is not yet known whether homeschool curriculum will be covered.

Browse Curriculum for Tennessee Families

Questions? Email atozformomslikeme@gmail.com