How to Use the Utah Fits All Scholarship

This program was passed during the 2023 Utah legislative session and allows parents to direct the state portion of education funding for their child. We call this an education spending account, or ESA. The Utah Fits All Scholarship provides $8,000 per student for parents to do just that. This fund will be available for the 2024-25 school year. 

Parents can use this fund to individualize and customize their child’s education. Parents and students can choose the time, pace, place, and path for learning. Some students take online classes, use computer programs, take a class from the public school, and find a private tutor to create the perfect fit education. 

We call this the unbundling of education, and all parents do this to some extent. Most parents enroll their children in things like dance, sports, piano, gymnastics, coding classes, or other similar activities.

An Unbundled Education

Here are some examples of how that looks.

Imagine a student who is interested in video games and coding. In an unbundled education, the parents could build learning experiences that are based on these interests. The parents help the student design and code their first video game. 

First, the student is enrolled in a coding class to ensure he has the skills to create the game. During writing class, he writes the story he wants to tell in the game. The video game will be science fiction, and the student takes a physics class from the local high school so the game mechanics feel more realistic.

Now imagine another student. This one wants to be a writer.

Her parents enroll her in writing classes to enhance her skills, but they also enroll her in a forensic science course to give her practical investigation skills so her book will feel more life-like. On top of that, the student reads the great mystery authors to learn how they leave clues for their readers building suspense without giving away the ending.

Both of these learning plans can be created using the Utah Fits All scholarship

New Learning Models

An amazing benefit to parents unbundling is the market responding to specific needs.

Breakout School in Utah county has created a learning environment where students with autism and ADHD thrive. The founder has researched how these populations learn best. The students spend 80 to 90 percent of their day outdoors. And the students are thriving. 

One young man started his program and within a few months was acing his math tests. The first time he received a perfect score on his test, he was shocked. He said he’d never had that happen before.

Kiwi Gym just opened and is combining professional athlete training programs with STEM instruction. Their courses take students through over 90 percent of the Utah Science and Engineering Education standards. Students are improving their health and their learning. 

One father said that his daughter used to take hours to go through the nightly homework in math. Now she flies through the homework and finishes in under thirty minutes. 

Innovation Across the State

These amazing programs are popping up all over the state, including in St. George, Avon, Moab, Vernal, Sandy, Bountiful, Ogden, Salt Lake and so many more places.

Most parents will continue to choose traditional education models. But for those students who don’t fit into that model, the Utah Fits All Scholarship provides them with an opportunity to find what they need. 

You can find out more about the Utah Fits All Scholarship at their website and join their growing email list. Providers can also join their vendor list for updates.

Your students will thank you.