ESA & Scholarships/Louisiana
Education Savings Account
Louisiana
LA GATOR Scholarship Program
Checked 18 September 2026
What this means for homeschool families
Does not fund homeschooling. An LA GATOR student cannot be in a registered home study programme at the same time, so using it means leaving home-study status.
Historical Conquest is still sold directly in our shop, and the homeschool page lists the states whose programmes do fund home education.
How it works
Created by Act 1 of 2024, LA GATOR gives education scholarship accounts that parents direct across approved services — non-public school tuition, curricula, textbooks and instructional materials, educational software, tutoring and therapies. All purchases go through the Odyssey platform; out-of-pocket purchases are not reimbursed.
- Programme
- LA GATOR Scholarship Program
- Administered by
- Louisiana Department of Education, with applications and all spending through Odyssey
- Amount
- Published amounts (unchanged from 2025-26): $5,243 for most students; $7,626 for households at or below 250% of the federal poverty level; up to $15,253 for students with a qualifying disability. Every award depends on the Legislature’s appropriation that year.
- For homeschoolers
- Does not fund homeschooling
Who qualifies
Louisiana residents aged 5 to 21 by 30 September 2026 who were in LA GATOR in 2025-26, are entering kindergarten, were enrolled in a public school on both 1 October and 1 February of 2025-26, or come from a household at or below 250% of the federal poverty level. Registered homeschoolers should read this carefully: state policy says an LA GATOR student may not take part at the same time in a BESE-approved home study programme or a home study registered as a nonpublic school not seeking state approval. A family using LA GATOR is leaving home-study status, not adding money to it.
How to apply
- Confirm your child is eligible for this year — see "Who qualifies" above.
- Check this year's window. The 2026-27 window ran 1–16 March 2026 and is closed. It is a short, once-a-year window, and applications within a priority group are ranked by submission time. The 2027-28 dates had not been announced when we checked. Dates move every year, so confirm on the official page before you plan around them.
- Create a parent account on the official portal and start the application.
- Have your documents ready. Most programmes want proof of residency, the child's birth certificate, and an IEP or eligibility determination if the programme is disability-based.
- Once you're approved, spend it. Curricula and instructional materials are approved expenses, bought through Odyssey. Search the Odyssey marketplace for Historical Conquest.
Official programme page: doe.louisiana.gov/topic-pages/louisiana-school-choice/la-gator. Amounts, deadlines and eligibility are set by the state and change every year — always confirm there before you plan around them.
Sources
Checked 18 September 2026 against these sources:
Historical Conquest in Louisiana
Using it with Historical Conquest
Louisiana’s programme does not pay for home education, so a homeschooling family here buys Historical Conquest directly. The card game, the Monthly Adventure Boxes, the textbooks and the digital game are all in the shop.
If your child attends a school that takes part, ask the school about Historical Conquest as a classroom resource, or ask us about classroom sets.
ESA Overview
What these programmes are, who they are for, and every state we cover.
Homeschool funding by state
Which states’ programmes a homeschooling family can use, and which they cannot.
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