Arkansas EFA Approved Expenses: What You Can (and Can't) Spend on ClassWallet

You've been approved for the Arkansas Education Freedom Account and your ClassWallet account is active. Now comes the practical question: what can you actually spend it on? The state's rules are more flexible than most families expect — but there are hard spending caps and categories that will get your account flagged if you overstep them.

How EFA Spending Is Evaluated

DESE applies what's called an "Ordinary and Necessary Framework" when reviewing EFA expenditures. The core test is whether a purchase is a legitimate, reasonable educational expense for your student. This isn't a rigid checklist — it's a judgment standard, which means well-documented purchases in grey areas are more likely to be approved than undocumented ones.

All spending flows through ClassWallet. You either purchase directly from a vendor listed in the ClassWallet marketplace, or you pay out of pocket and submit a reimbursement request with receipts and documentation explaining the educational purpose. DESE audits accounts periodically, and any expense flagged as non-qualifying requires repayment.

What Arkansas EFA Funds Can Be Used For

Curriculum packages, textbooks, and digital learning platforms. This is the core use case for most homeschool families. Boxed curriculum sets from major publishers (Sonlight, BJU Press, Classical Conversations materials, etc.), standalone textbooks, and subscription-based online programs are all approved expenses. Most major homeschool curriculum vendors are already registered in the ClassWallet marketplace.

Tutoring and specialized instruction. Independent tutors who are registered ClassWallet vendors can be paid directly from EFA funds. Subject-specific tutors, academic coaches, and reading specialists all qualify. The tutor cannot be a member of your household — family members cannot receive EFA payments for instruction they provide to their own children.

Occupational therapy, speech therapy, and related services. EFA funds can cover these therapies when provided by licensed, independent professionals registered as ClassWallet vendors. This is a significant benefit for families with special-needs students, since therapies that would otherwise require navigating the public school system's IDEA process can be accessed privately.

Educational technology. Laptops, tablets, and printers used specifically for the student's educational activities are approved. The operative word is "used for" — a family computer that happens to be used for schoolwork is a harder case to document than a device purchased specifically for homeschool use. Keep the receipt and note the educational purpose clearly.

Tuition for co-ops, learning pods, and hybrid microschools. This is one of the more valuable uses of EFA funds for families who participate in group homeschool settings. Academic co-ops and microschool programs that charge tuition can receive EFA payments — but only if they are registered as vendors in the ClassWallet system. Confirm vendor registration before you commit to a program.

Concurrent enrollment fees. High school homeschoolers enrolled in concurrent courses at Arkansas State University, Northwest Arkansas Community College, or other participating institutions can use EFA funds to pay the tuition. A-State's concurrent rate runs around $65 per credit hour — EFA funds can cover this directly.

The Spending Caps You Need to Know

Senate Bill 625 (2025) imposed specific spending limits that apply to all EFA accounts. These are hard caps, not guidelines:

Extracurricular activities, physical education classes, and field trips: capped at 25% of your annual EFA funds. For a family receiving the standard $6,864 allocation, that means no more than $1,716 can go toward these categories across the entire school year. This cap covers activities like martial arts classes with an educational framing, dance classes, group sports programs, and educational field trips. PE programs offered through registered co-ops fall under this cap as well.

Transportation: capped at 25% of annual EFA funds. If you're claiming transportation costs to get your student to a co-op, tutoring sessions, or educational activities, you're limited to the same $1,716 ceiling. Note that this covers transportation to educational activities — not general household travel.

These two caps are independent of each other, but they each apply to 25% of your total. You cannot combine them into a 50% cap on non-core expenses. The remaining majority of your funds should be directed toward core academic costs like curriculum and instruction.

What EFA Funds Cannot Cover

Cash withdrawals. You cannot pull money out of ClassWallet as cash under any circumstances. The system is designed to prevent this entirely.

Personal or household expenses. Groceries, clothing, utilities, and family expenses are not educational costs and will be flagged immediately.

Payments to household members. A parent, sibling, grandparent, or spouse cannot be paid from EFA funds for tutoring or instruction. This is a firm rule.

Unregistered vendors. Even if a purchase would otherwise be a legitimate educational expense, you cannot receive reimbursement if the vendor isn't registered in ClassWallet. Always check first.

Religious instruction as the primary curriculum. This is a nuanced area. Curriculum materials from religious publishers are generally approved when they serve a genuine academic purpose (a Bible course, for instance, is considered an academic subject). However, EFA funds cannot be used to pay tuition at a church or religious organization for services that are primarily devotional rather than educational.

Entertainment subscriptions and media. Streaming services, video game subscriptions, and general media don't qualify, even if the content has some educational value.

Documenting Grey-Area Purchases

The "ordinary and necessary" standard gives DESE auditors some discretion. If you're making a purchase that could go either way — a microscope for a student who does serious biology work, for example, or an art supply set for a student enrolled in a formal art curriculum — documentation is what makes the difference.

Keep a written explanation for each non-obvious purchase: what the item is, which course or curriculum it supports, and how it's used in your child's education. Attach this explanation to the ClassWallet reimbursement request. Audits flag purchases that lack context; well-documented purchases in grey areas are routinely approved.

EFA Spending and Your NOI Status

One important point: accepting EFA funds doesn't change your legal status as a homeschooler under Arkansas law. You still file a Notice of Intent each year between August 1 and August 15 and operate as an independent home school. The EFA is a financial layer on top of your legal homeschool status, not a replacement for it.

What it does add is the annual standardized testing requirement. Families enrolled in the EFA must administer a norm-referenced standardized test each year. Standard Arkansas homeschoolers who don't participate in the EFA have no testing requirement at all.

If your child is still in public school and you're planning to switch to homeschooling to access EFA funding, the legal withdrawal comes first. The Arkansas Legal Withdrawal Blueprint covers how to file the NOI, send the district withdrawal letter, and handle the transition correctly so your EFA application isn't delayed by paperwork problems.

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