Upon acceptance of a scholarship, the parent assumes full financial responsibility for the education of the scholarship recipient. The amount of funding available for scholarship in a given year varies based upon the amount of funds raised and the appropriation amount from the state. Funds will be disbursed based upon the following priorities:
- Students continuing from the prior school year, who continue to maintain all eligibility requirements
- Students switching from the legacy Carson Smith program
- New qualified applicants with disabilities will be awarded scholarships in order of the date their application was approved by CFEF.
- Qualified sibling applicant awards will be distributed if funds exist after awarding scholarships to qualified students with disabilities first.
Funds are awarded and accessed through the online platform established by CFEF, who will oversee all expenditures related to the CSOS program. This format eliminates the need for paper reimbursements and provides families an easy way to purchase educational goods and services. The platform automates the receipt collection, approval, workflow, data reconciliation and transaction settlement process.
Each scholarship family will establish a secure user account within the platform. Families will be able to see their real-time scholarship fund balance through the platform, including transaction history with dates and times, and amount deposited and used.
