Georgia Promise Scholarship for Kindergarten: How Rising Kindergarteners Qualify

Why Kindergarten Is the Easiest Entry Point

Most Georgia Promise Scholarship applicants must prove two consecutive semesters of Georgia public school enrollment before they can apply. Rising kindergarteners skip that rule entirely.

Under SB 233, a child entering kindergarten who lives within the attendance zone of a GOSA bottom-25% public school qualifies without any prior public school history. No transcripts, no FTE count verification, no enrollment records. The child has never been in the system, and the statute explicitly exempts them from the prior-enrollment requirement.

This makes kindergarten the cleanest entry point into the program — and potentially the most valuable. A child who enters the Promise Scholarship in kindergarten and renews annually can access up to $84,500 in state education funding through high school graduation (13 years at $6,500 per year). Once in, returning students get first-priority renewal every year, regardless of future changes to the GOSA school list.

What You Still Need to Prove

The kindergarten exemption only waives the two-semester enrollment rule. The other requirements remain:

Attendance zone. Your home address must fall within the geographic boundary of a public school on the GOSA bottom-25% list. Look up your assigned school through your district's zone finder, then check the list at MyGeorgiaPromise.org. The GOSA list for 2026-27 was finalized on February 26, 2026.

Parent residency. At least one parent or guardian must have lived continuously in Georgia for one year before the application. Active-duty military families who moved to Georgia under official orders within the past 12 months are exempt.

Age verification. Submit a certified birth certificate proving the child meets Georgia's kindergarten age eligibility cutoff.

Household income. When demand exceeds funding, applicants at or below 400% FPL receive priority. Applicants above 400% FPL are eligible only during Windows 1 and 2.

Timing Your Application

Apply during Window 1 (typically March) to maximize your award. Windows 1 and 2 give the full $6,500 annual allocation across four quarterly installments of $1,625. Windows 3 and 4 prorate the award to $3,250.

Since a kindergartener has no existing public school enrollment to maintain, the withdrawal timing issue that trips up other applicants doesn't apply to you. But you do still need to complete one of two steps after receiving the award notification:

• Private school path: Enroll your child in a participating private school registered with GESA
• Home study path: File a Declaration of Intent (DOI) with the Georgia Department of Education by September 1

The DOI is the same filing every Georgia homeschool family makes, and it triggers the home study requirements under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(c) — 180 school days per year, 4.5 hours per day, covering reading, language arts, math, social studies, and science.

Siblings Aren't Automatically Eligible

Eligibility is determined per child. If your kindergartener qualifies but an older sibling has been homeschooled, the sibling doesn't qualify unless they independently meet the two-semester public school enrollment requirement.

Each qualifying child gets their own $6,500 Odyssey account. The funds cannot be shared or commingled between siblings.

The Georgia Promise Scholarship Parent Guide walks through the kindergarten application process step by step, including the zone verification procedure and a document checklist specific to families with no prior public school records.

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