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TEFA Tuition Refund Policy

Alex Leiva
Updated

This policy explains how tuition refunds work for TEFA students who withdraw, transfer from an approved TEFA school, or opt out of the TEFA program.

Important: 

  • It is against program rules to refund TEFA funds directly to parents. By doing so, you are risking participation in the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program. Schools are prohibited from refunding TEFA funds directly to parents 
  • All TEFA funds need to be refunded to Odyssey. All other contractual obligations need to be adjudicated between the family and the school. 

Changing Schools During the Program Year

TEFA students may change approved schools at any time during the program year.

This means Odyssey can redirect scholarship payments to the new approved school once a student officially transfers.

Parent Responsibilities for Enrollment Changes

In the event that a student changes schools, parents must select the new school within the Odyssey Parent Portal. 

If the student is switching to becoming a home school student, they must select “Homeschool” in the dropdown.

Refund Eligibility

Whether tuition is refunded depends on the following eligibility scenarios:

  • Students that are switching from private school to homeschool. 
  • Students that are transferring between eligible TEFA private schools. 
  • Students that are unenrolling from the TEFA program. 

Note: Overpayment refunds (student is still enrolled) are not eligible. The parent and school will need to partner on what the next tuition payment needs to be based on the overpayment. 

Refund Process

  1. The parent will communicate with the school their plans so that the school can initiate a refund through Odyssey.  
  1. The school will reach out to Odyssey Support for a tuition refund request: 
  1. Odyssey School Support will collect information regarding the student(s) and record the information for processing. 
    1. School’s name
    2. Student’s name
    3. Refund amount
  1. Once Odyssey has received the TEFA funds for the student’s tuition refund, Odyssey will send the funds back to the student’s wallet. 

 Note: Odyssey cannot process a refund without the school’s direct coordination.