We're excited to share some important updates and helpful tips to ensure a smooth and successful experience with the Utah Fits All Scholarship program for the upcoming school year.
Clarification on our Reimbursement Policy:
We understand that many families need to plan ahead and make purchases for the upcoming 2025-2026 school year. To that end, we would like to provide an important clarification on our reimbursement policy. Students who are returning as UFA participants for the 2025-2026 school year can make eligible purchases prior to the marketplace and reimbursement launch on August 21, 2025. These purchases may then be submitted for reimbursement, provided that the student is confirmed to be an awarded UFA participant for the 2025-2026 school year.
Students who applied under the previous program administrator but have not yet received a scholarship decision may also make purchases to be submitted via reimbursement, starting July 1. These purchases may then be submitted for reimbursement, provided that the student receives an award for the 2025-2026 school year when Odyssey opens up the application process. Please be aware that purchasing items is at your own risk, and you will not receive reimbursement if the student is not approved and awarded funds.
Please also keep in mind that siblings of renewal students are not automatically approved for the scholarship, but are selected via lottery based on their prioritization level. If you choose to spend for your new student who has yet to be funded, there is a chance they do not receive the scholarship. Scholarship funds cannot be mixed, so the expenses must remain separate between the two students.
As a reminder, please note that:
- The annual scholarship year is from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.
- Reimbursements for purchases are individually evaluated for legal compliance. As such, parents should be prepared to provide justification and documentation for each purchase.
- Eligibility determinations for Year 2 participants will be finalized shortly before the Marketplace opens.
- If a student is ultimately not approved for Year 2 participation, any purchases made prior to August 21 will not be eligible for reimbursement.
With many families preparing for the next school year, this updated approach offers needed flexibility while ensuring our process remains compliant with both program standards and Utah state regulations.
July 31st Parent Application:
The Odyssey parent application opens on July 31st at 10 AM MT and will close on August 15th at 12 PM MT. We'll be sending the application directly to the email address you used with the previous program administrator, so please keep an eye out for it! This application is exclusively for those who applied through the previous administrator. If you did not previously apply, your application will be rejected.
Our application will take approximately five minutes to complete and can be completed on a mobile device. This FAQ page will inform you of what documentation is needed to complete the application. Following the completion of the application, each student will receive one of three statuses: Eligible, Ineligible, or Under Review. Under review simply means that your application must be manually reviewed if eligibility cannot be determined via document upload.
An eligible status is not the same as being awarded. After the closure of the application window on August 15th, Odyssey will work with the Utah State Tax Commission and Utah State Board of Education to prioritize student funding. If you are not aware of how funding is prioritized, please take a look at this FAQ. Please note that eligibility and funding awards are separate and rely on prioritization, as outlined in state law. A student can be deemed eligible but may not receive funding. Funding will begin being distributed on August 21st when the marketplace opens.
School or Home-Based Scholarship Selection:
Following the completion of the application and upon receiving an eligible determination, parents will be prompted to select the school their student(s) will attend. A drop-down of all approved schools (that have signed up with Odyssey) will be available for parents to select and confirm. If the student is attending a non-approved school or is seeking a home-based scholarship, they can either select “home-based scholarship” or make no school selection at all. If no selection is made by August 21st, the student will be categorized as a home-based scholarship student.
After the parent has selected and confirmed their school, the school will be notified of that child’s intention of attendance. The school will then confirm enrollment and set tuition for that student in their Odyssey portal. After tuition is set by the school, the parent will be notified and will be prompted to review and confirm tuition cost. Please be aware that tuition cannot be paid above the maximum amount of the scholarship. If there is an outstanding difference between the tuition amount and scholarship amount, the difference must be settled between the parent and the school, independent of Odyssey.
If the student has already paid tuition and will be seeking reimbursement, or if the student does not intend to use scholarship funds on tuition, the school must still confirm enrollment and set tuition for the student in the amount of $0.
Schools will continue to be registered throughout the application process, so if your school is not on the initial list please check again towards the end of the application window. We have made accounts for over seventy schools and have a backlog of approximately thirty schools. Our school team is working diligently every day to review and approve these school applications. The list of approved Private Schools can be found here on our FAQ page.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to our support channels with any questions or concerns.
All the best,
The Odyssey Team
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