The Hope Scholarship Program is an education savings account (ESA) program that will allow parents and families to utilize the state portion of their education funding to tailor an individualized learning experience that works best for them.

The Hope Scholarship amount will vary annually depending on the amount of state aid funding per pupil provided to county boards of education for public school students. The scholarship amount is expected to be $5,435.62 for the 2026-2027 school year.

Existing Hope Scholarship students wishing to continue participation in the program for the 2026-2027 year will be able to complete the continued participation confirmation process from January 5, 2026 to June 15, 2026.

New applications for the Hope Scholarship Program for the 2026-2027 school year can be submitted from March 2 to June 15 to be eligible for 100% of scholarship funds. The application windows for new applicants for the 2026-2027 school year and the corresponding funding amounts are outlined in the chart below.

If your child decides to return to public school, he or she can no longer participate in the Hope Scholarship Program. You will need to notify us at hopescholarshipwv@wvsto.gov that you have returned to public school and include the name of the county board of education or charter school in which your child will be enrolled. Any remaining funds in your child’s Hope Scholarship account within the Hope Scholarship online portal will be returned to the state. Your child would be ineligible to return to the Hope Scholarship program during the same school year but could apply for the Hope Scholarship again for future school years.

No, if your child is no longer a resident of West Virginia, he or she can no longer participate in the Hope Scholarship Program because they no longer meet the statutory eligibility requirements. If you move out of the state, please notify us in writing at hopescholarshipwv@wvsto.gov so that we can take the necessary steps to close your child’s account in the Hope Scholarship portal. Failure to report moving out of state could be considered fraud.

Yes, your child may participate in the Hope Scholarship Program. However, it is important to understand that the student’s participation in the Hope Scholarship Program is a parental placement under 20 U.S.C. §1412 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and participation in the Program releases the public school system of the County from its obligation to provide the student with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). For more information about the rights of parentally placed students under IDEA and applicable state laws and regulations, please refer to the information contained in West Virginia Board of Education Policy 2419: Regulations for the Education of Students with Exceptionalities and the corresponding Procedural Safeguards Brochure found at Policy 2419 - West Virginia Department of Education (wvde.us).

For more information about IDEA and public school special education services for students with disabilities in West Virginia, please visit Special Education - West Virginia Department of Education (wvde.us) for more information. Parent resources for students with disabilities can be found at Parent Resources - West Virginia Department of Education (wvde.us).

To qualify for the Hope Scholarship, a student must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• The student must be a resident of the State of West Virginia and remain a resident while participating in the program.
• The student must be enrolled or eligible to be enrolled in a West Virginia public school in grades K-12 at the time of application for a specific school year.
• For incoming kindergarten students, the student must be at least five years old prior to July 1.
• The student cannot have already successfully completed a secondary education program.
• The student must be under 21 years of age.

A child cannot remain enrolled full-time in a public elementary or secondary school program and receive the Hope Scholarship at the same time. If a child is accepted into the Hope Scholarship Program, they can no longer be enrolled full-time in West Virginia public school. A child can, however, utilize their scholarship funds to purchase part-time services from a West Virginia public school. Additional details about public school enrollment and Hope Scholarship can be found here.

Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, all students eligible to be enrolled in a West Virginia public school in grades K-12 are eligible for the Hope Scholarship. Existing private school students who were not previously eligible for the Hope Scholarship program in prior years due to legislative restrictions are eligible to apply to participate for the 2026-2027 school year starting on March 2, 2026.

As a reminder, all student applications require a valid WVEIS ID number assigned by a West Virginia county board of education. If you are unsure of your student’s WVEIS ID number or do not believe your student already has a WVEIS ID number, please complete the WVEIS request form and submit it to the county board of education of your county of residence to obtain your student’s WVEIS number.

Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, all students eligible to be enrolled in a West Virginia public school in grades K-12 are eligible for the Hope Scholarship. Existing traditional homeschool students who were not previously eligible for the Hope Scholarship program in prior years due to legislative restrictions are eligible apply to participate for the 2026-2027 school year starting on March 2, 2026.

As a reminder, all student applications require a valid WVEIS ID number assigned by a West Virginia county board of education. If you are unsure of your student’s WVEIS ID number or do not believe your student already has a WVEIS ID number, please complete the WVEIS request form and submit it to the county board of education of your county of residence to obtain your student’s WVEIS number.

Because the participation rate of the combined number of students in the Hope Scholarship Program and students eligible who applied to participate in the Hope Scholarship program as of July 1, 2024, was less than five percent of net public school enrollment adjusted for state aid purposes for the previous school year, effective July 1, 2026, all West Virginia students will be eligible to participate in the Hope Scholarship Program. Participation can begin in the 2026-2027 school year.

No, once a student graduates from a high school program, he or she is not eligible for the Hope Scholarship Program. The program is intended for students in grade K-12 only. Additionally, Hope Scholarship Program rules state that you may not unnecessarily delay awarding a student a diploma for the purpose of utilizing Hope Scholarship funds to pay for the student’s college-level education.

An appeal for ineligibility may be submitted directly in the online Hope Scholarship portal within 45 days of being found ineligible for the Program. Please reference the How to Submit an Application Appeal guide for assistance. Pursuant to W. Va. Code R. §112-19-11, the Board appointed a three-member appeal committee to be the arbiter of all appeals submitted to the Board.

You may withdraw your student from public school. However, it is important to note that your Hope Scholarship exemption from compulsory attendance does not go into effect until the start of the 2026-27 school year. If you withdraw from public school for the remainder of the 2025-26 school year, your student must fall under another exemption from the State’s compulsory attendance requirements, such as traditional homeschool or private school, for the rest of the 2025-26 school year. If your child will be doing traditional homeschool for the rest of the 2025-26 school year, you must submit a traditional homeschool notice of intent (NOI) to the county board of education to cover the rest of the school year and comply with all traditional homeschool exemption requirements. You should then submit your 2026-27 Hope Scholarship NOI to the county board of education upon conclusion of the 2025-26 school year.

Yes, your student must continue to meet all traditional homeschool requirements under exemption (c) through the end of the 2025-26 school year since the student’s Hope Scholarship exemption (m) from compulsory attendance does not go into effect until the start of the 2026-27 school year. This would include submission of your student’s annual academic progress if they were in grade three, five, eight or eleven for the 2025-26 school year. As a reminder, students who are moving from traditional homeschool to the Hope Scholarship Individualized Instructional Plan (IIP) pathway must submit a Notice of Termination to the county board of education. The updated Hope Scholarship Notice of Intent Form includes a section to allow this form to serve as dual notice to the county board of education for the 2026-2027 school year.

Yes, if you received an email indicating that your student’s application has been found eligible for the Hope Scholarship, this means that they have been awarded the Hope Scholarship for the year indicated in the email. Your student’s application will remain in the status of “Eligible” in the Hope Scholarship online portal until the Hope Scholarship Board staff have confirmed your student’s statutorily required Notice of Intent is on file with the county board of education. Checks for compliance with the Notice of Intent requirement will be performed monthly and student application statuses will be updated to Approved in batches throughout the summer, starting in July. “Approved” is an administrative status in the Hope Scholarship online portal that indicates that an application is available to be funded for the scholarship since the program rules require the student the student’s NOI to be on file with the county board of education before the student’s account can be funded for the school year.

No, county boards of education do not have access to the Hope Scholarship online portal and are unable to see a student’s current application status. Please refer all questions about your student’s Hope Scholarship application status to the Hope Engagement Center at 681-999-HOPE or help@hopescholarshipwv.com.

No, the fact that your child attended a private Pre-K program does not impact Hope Scholarship eligibility. All incoming kindergarten students who meet the July 1st deadline are eligible for the Hope Scholarship Program regardless of where they attended Pre-K.

Students who turn five years old on or after July 1st can become eligible for the Hope Scholarship if the student successfully enrolls in a West Virginia public kindergarten program through the program’s regularly established early entrance process that determines your child meets the criteria to start kindergarten a year early.

County boards of education are authorized but not required by W. Va. Code to have an early kindergarten entrance process. If your county of residence does not have an early entrance process, under the State’s open enrollment laws, you may seek to have your child admitted through the early entrance process of another West Virginia county board of education.

Your child is not eligible for the Hope Scholarship until a county board of education has determined that your child qualifies for early entrance under the county’s early kindergarten entrance process. Please wait until you have documentation from the public school indicating that your child has been deemed eligible for early kindergarten entrance before submitting a Hope Scholarship application. When submitting your application, please include the early entrance documentation when uploading the other required application documentation. The early entrance documentation will be needed to override the standard eligibility determination based on your child’s date of birth being after the July 1st cutoff for kindergarten. If the determination from the county is made after the June 15th deadline to receive 100% of the scholarship, your child will unfortunately fall into the next application window for 75% of the scholarship funding for the initial year of eligibility.

Yes. Starting with the 2026-27 school year, your student is eligible for the Hope Scholarship Program as a first grader if they attended a private school or were homeschooled for kindergarten a year early, as long as they meet all other eligibility requirements.

Yes. Starting with the 2026-27 school year, your student is eligible for the Hope Scholarship Program as a first grader if they attended a private school or were homeschooled for kindergarten a year early, as long as they meet all other eligibility requirements.

If you do not know your child’s WVEIS ID# or know that your child does not yet have one, please complete the WVEIS ID# Request Form to obtain your student’s WVEIS ID# from the county board of education. Completed forms should be submitted by email to your local county board of education using the email address from the list found here. The form requests basic information for your student and also asks a series of questions to help determine if a WVEIS ID# already exists for your student. The county board of education will review the completed form and email you the correct WVEIS ID# for use on your student’s Hope Scholarship application.

Hope Scholarship funds cannot be spent on Pre-K programs. At the point your child was moved back to a Pre-K program, your child was no longer statutorily eligible for the Hope Scholarship Program for the current school year. Any Hope Scholarship funds spent for services rendered after that date must be returned to the State. Your child is eligible to apply as a kindergarten student again for the next school year.

No, transitional kindergarten is considered a Pre-K program and Hope Scholarship funds cannot be spent on Pre-K. Hope Scholarship funds are only eligible to be spent on qualifying expenses for grades Kindergarten through Twelve. Other common names for transitional kindergarten programs are junior kindergarten or early kindergarten, but all such programs are considered a type of Pre-K program regardless of the name used by the school.

If you wish to participate in the Hope Scholarship Program, you will only need to submit a Notice of Intent to participate in Hope Scholarship to your local county superintendent. A sample Hope Scholarship NOI form can be found here. On that form, you should indicate that you are selecting an Individualized Instructional Program for your child so that the county superintendent is aware of which Hope Scholarship pathway you are choosing for your child. This notifies them that you will annually be submitting your child’s test results or determination that your child is making academic progress commensurate with his or her age and ability by June 8 to remain eligible for the Hope Scholarship Program. Although students with Individualized Instructional Programs under Hope Scholarship may share many common traits with traditional homeschool students, there is a distinction between the two under West Virginia Code and a traditional homeschool NOI is not required.

A Hope Scholarship Notice of Intent should be submitted to the county board of education of the student’s county of residence after the student’s Hope Scholarship application is in a “Eligible” Status. This applies to students in all grade levels, K-12. “Eligible” status means that the student has been awarded the scholarship for the school year indicated on the application. A valid Hope Scholarship NOI is required to be provided in accordance with W. Va. Code §18-8-1(m). Hope Scholarship rules state that funding may be withheld or delayed to a Hope Scholarship student’s account if a Notice of Intent has not been submitted (see W. Va. Code of State Rules §112-18-3, Section 3.4).

Please put the most likely option for your child on the Notice of Intent form. If you end up ultimately selecting a different option for your child, please send a revised Notice of Intent form to the county superintendent so that they can update the WVEIS Hope Scholarship module to reflect the appropriate type of records to expect for your student annually.

Submission of the Notice of Intent to the county board of education is a one-time requirement. It does not need to be sent annually. Families will only need to submit a revised Notice of Intent form if they move, have a change in Hope Scholarship pathway, or if the student’s grade level changes due to retention or acceleration.

Yes, if your family moves, you will need to submit a revised Notice of Intent. If your new residence is in the same county, you would submit the revised version to the same county where your original submission was sent. However, if your new residence is in a new county, you will need to send the updated Notice of Intent form to the county superintendent of the new county. Please include a note that indicates you have moved from another county (include the county name) who had been tracking your children for Hope Scholarship purposes. You will also need to send a letter to your previous county board of education notifying them that you are moving out of the county and have sent a Notice of Intent to Participate in the Hope Scholarship to the county superintendent of your new county of residence.

Yes, if you change to a different Hope pathway option for your child, please send a revised Notice of Intent form to the county superintendent so that they can update the WVEIS Hope Scholarship module to reflect the appropriate type of records to expect for your child annually.

Students attending a microschool should be marked as Individualized Instructional Program (IIP) students on the Notice of Intent Form.

If you are attending a West Virginia public charter school, you must submit your Notice of Intent to both the county superintendent of your county of residence and to the public charter school. Sending the Notice of Intent to the public charter school serves as the official request for the public charter school to withdraw your child in WVEIS. Sending the Notice of Intent to the county board of education lets the county know they will need to begin tracking your child as a Hope Scholarship student moving forward.

Yes, you must submit a new Notice of Intent to your county. The original Notice of Intent was deactivated when you decided not to participate in the Hope Scholarship program in a prior year.

No, to obtain a WVEIS ID# for an incoming kindergarten student, please submit the WVEIS ID Request Form to the county board of education of your county of residence using the email address from the county board of education email list found here. A Hope Scholarship Notice of Intent is not submitted until after your student’s Hope Scholarship application is updated to “Eligible” status in the Hope Scholarship online portal.

Submission of a Hope Scholarship NOI is considered an official request to withdraw your student from public school to participate in the Hope Scholarship program for the school year indicated on the NOI. It is important to clearly indicate the school year for which your student has been found eligible to begin participation in the Hope Scholarship Program so that your county board of education can properly withdraw your student from public school. If you indicate the current school year on the student’s NOI, the county board of education will immediately withdraw your student upon receipt of NOI. If you indicate the subsequent school year on the student’s NOI, the county board of education will withdraw your student over the summer in advance of the start of the school year.

West Virginia Code requires that you submit a notice of termination when you stop homeschooling your student. Although traditional homeschool and Hope IIP are very similar, they are legally two different exemptions from compulsory public school attendance so the notice of termination is required when switching from traditional homeschool to the Hope Scholarship Program. It is recommended that you do this at the same time that you submit a Hope Scholarship NOI so there is no gap in showing how your student is being educated. Although you may use any termination notice format, the sample Hope Scholarship Notice of Intent Form includes an optional section at the bottom that you can use to terminate your homeschool NOI all on the same form. You can find more information about the differences between traditional homeschool and Hope Scholarship IIP here.

Yes, you must submit a continued participation confirmation for your child annually so that we know you intend to continue participation in the Hope Scholarship Program.

The continued participation confirmation window for the 2026-27 school year runs from January 5 to June 15. Failure to submit a CPC by the deadline of June 15 will require submission of a new student application and any carryover funds in your account for the current school year will be returned to the State. As a reminder, new student applications submitted after June 15 will be funded less than 100%.

Yes, all continued participation confirmations must be submitted by June 15 annually. The year-round application windows are for new applicants only. Continued proof of West Virginia residency is required annually with the continued participation confirmation, but the birth certificate is only required with new applications.

Yes, if you received an email indicating that your student’s application has been found conditionally eligible for the Hope Scholarship, this means that they have been awarded the Hope Scholarship for the year indicated in the email. Your student’s application will remain in the status of “Conditionally Eligible” in the Hope Scholarship online portal until the Hope Scholarship Board staff have confirmed your student’s statutorily required Academic/Attendance Reporting Requirements for the current school year is on file with the county board of education. Checks for compliance with the Academic/Attendance Reporting Requirements will be performed at the beginning of July and student application statuses will be updated to Approved once this July analysis has been completed. “Approved” is an administrative status in the Hope Scholarship online portal that indicates that an application is available to be funded for the scholarship and that all continuing participation requirements have been met. Failure to meet Academic/Attendance Reporting Requirements or other Program requirements will prohibit the Hope Scholarship team from funding a Student and could lead to termination of Program participation and the Student’s Account.

Yes, there are annual continuing eligibility requirements that students must fulfill to continue with the Hope Scholarship Program. All eligible students must have submitted a Notice of Intent to the county board of education for their first year of participation in the Program. For students attending a participating school under the Hope Scholarship Program, the participating school must send an annual notice of your child’s attendance at their school to the county superintendent of your county of residence by no later than June 8th. For students in the Individualized Instructional Plan (IIP) pathway, there are two options to demonstrate appropriate academic progress to the county superintendent of the county of residence by no later than June 8th annually.

• Nationally normed standardized achievement test of academic achievement in accordance with West Virginia Code §18-31-8(a)(4)(A); or
• A certified teacher conducts a review of the student’s academic work annually.

Hope Scholarship staff created a sample academic progress review form that can be found here. As long as the form used by the certified teacher contains all of the necessary language to meet the statutory requirements, they can use an alternative form.

Yes; however, that teacher must submit a copy of their teaching license/certificate with their attestation of student academic progress. West Virginia county boards of education have no other way to verify the credentials of the certified teacher if they are licensed by another state.

Yes, you may use any certified teacher to complete your child’s academic portfolio review. However, if that certified teacher is not registered to participate in the program, there is no mechanism to pay them for their services using Hope Scholarship funds. This would not be an extenuating circumstance that would allow you to submit the amount paid out-of-pocket for the services for reimbursement.

Pursuant to W. Va. Code §18-31-8(a)(4)(A)(i), the child must be tested in reading, language, mathematics, and when available for the student’s grade level, science and social studies

There is no specific test or test provider that must be used to meet the nationally normed standardized testing requirements. The testing provider must have documentation to support that the test was nationally normed.

If there are no nationally normed tests available for purchase using TheoPay and you wish to pursue this option for your child, the Board has now added the nationally normed tests used to satisfy the statutory requirements to the Board’s Reimbursement Policy found here.

Effective June 7, 2024 with the passage of HB 4945 during the 2024 legislative session, science and social studies are only required when available for the student’s grade level. If no nationally normed standardized tests exists for your child’s grade level with those subjects, your child would only need to test in the subjects of reading, language, and mathematics.

No, your child cannot use West Virginia General Summative Assessment scores to meet the statutory requirements. The WV Department of Education has clarified that this test is not nationally normed so it does not meet the requirements.

The WVDE has clarified that the SAT may be accepted as the 11th grade assessment if the Hope Scholarship student scores in the fourth stanine, which requires an overall SAT score of 860 or above. If the student does not have a score of 860 on the SAT, the ability to show improvement from the previous year may be satisfied if the student took the PSAT and improvement is demonstrated. If the student did not previously take the PSAT and does not score in the fourth stanine on the SAT, the SAT would not be an acceptable assessment under the statutory requirements and the Hope Scholarship student may want to consider utilizing a portfolio review by a certified teacher to meet the annual academic progress requirements.

The WVDE has clarified that the PSAT may be accepted as the 10th grade assessment if the Hope Scholarship student scores in the fourth stanine, which requires an overall PSAT score of 860 or above. If the student does not achieve at least an 860 on the PSAT, the score cannot be used to satisfy the academic reporting requirements and the Hope Scholarship student may want to consider utilizing a portfolio review by a certified teacher to meet the annual academic progress requirements.

No, at this time, the SAT can only be used to satisfy the academic reporting requirements for the 11th grade.

The Treasurer’s Office has contracted with a third party to administer Hope Scholarship accounts electronically through the Hope Scholarship online portal. Each family will have access to a separate online portal account for each eligible student in their household. All purchases will be made via an ACH transaction and will be pre-approved by the Treasurer’s Office. At this time, the Hope Scholarship amount will be split into two distributions, with the first half being placed into the student accounts by August 15 and the second half being placed into the student accounts by January 15.

In accordance with W. Va. Code of State Rules §112-18-3.4, a student’s Hope Scholarship account will not be funded if there is no active Hope Scholarship NOI on file for your student or if the previously active Hope NOI has been terminated by your county board of education. For questions about submitting a Hope Scholarship NOI, please review the Notice of Intent FAQ section.

Deposits of prorated Hope Scholarship funds will be made under the assumption that any proration will be assigned to the first semester of participation. For students who are awarded a prorated amount of Hope Scholarship funds after one of the two primary funding dates (August 15 and January 15), the Board will deposit the prorated funds as soon as feasible. Funding is generally processed once per month outside of the two main funding windows set forth in statute. The list of unfunded students is pulled around the 15th of each month with funds deposited into student accounts a few weeks later. Please see the chart below for funding and distribution amounts for the 2026-2027 school year.

**Some people applying in the 25% range may be funded in November or December, and would have their payment split between the two semesters. Some applications will be submitted late enough that they will be fully funded in the second semester and would receive one payment instead of two.

Families will spend their Hope Scholarship funds directly through the Hope Scholarship online portal with participating schools, education service providers, and vendors for qualifying educational expenses listed below (noncomprehensive list – the full list can be found in the Hope Scholarship Parent Handbook). Hope Scholarship funds are not sent to the parents. Reimbursements for payments made out-of-pocket with non-Hope Scholarship funds will only be considered in limited circumstances as defined in the Hope Scholarship Reimbursement Policy.

• • Tuition and fees for private school, non-public online programs, or alternative education programs
• • Services provided by a public school (extracurricular, individual courses)
• • Tutoring services
• • Fees for standardized or advanced placement exams
• • Educational services and therapies
• • Supplemental materials (supplies, textbooks)
• • Technology equipment needed for an educational program. Please see technology specific limitations listed in the Parent Handbook here.
• • Any other qualifying expense as approved by the Hope Scholarship Board

The Hope Scholarship Board has also published a list of non-qualifying/unallowable expenses that can be found here.

Yes, Hope Scholarship funds can be used to pay tuition at private schools in surrounding states if those private schools have signed up to participate in the Hope Scholarship Program.

No, remaining Hope Scholarship funds will rollover into the new school year as long as your student remains eligible for the Program, and you submit the required continued participation confirmation by the June 15th deadline.

Education Service Providers who are interested in participating in the Hope Scholarship Program should complete the New Provider Request Form. Once you have completed the form, Hope Scholarship Board Staff will work to create your account and will reach out to the email address you provide on the request form with any questions. Once your account has been created you will receive an email from invitations@theolearning.com inviting you to claim your account.

Hope Scholarship students will direct their funds electronically to participating Education Service Providers through the Hope Scholarship online portal. The funds will then be sent directly from the online portal to the Education Service Providers via ACH transactions. Hope Scholarship funds will be available to students in the online portal accounts twice a year – half of the funds will be available by August 15 and half of the funds will be available by January 15. Any refunds of Hope Scholarship funds by an Education Service Provider must be electronically deposited back to the student’s online portal account – the funds cannot be refunded, rebated, or shared with a parent or student in any other manner.

Although microschools do not meet the statutory definition of participating school under the Hope Scholar Program, effective July 31, 2024, microschools will be provided access to the "school" module in the online portal. New microschools will be prompted accordingly in the registration process.

Exemption (b) or Exemption (k) nonpublic schools located in West Virginia who are interested in participating in the Hope Scholarship Program should complete the New Provider Request Form. Once you have completed the form Hope Scholarship Board Staff will work to create your account and will reach out to the email address you provide on the request form with any questions. Once your account has been created you will receive an email from invitations@theolearning.com inviting you to claim your account. Hope Scholarship Board staff will confirm the school’s registration with the West Virginia Department of Education.

Reimbursements under the Hope Scholarship Program are limited to those authorized under the Board’s Reimbursement Policy found at Microsoft Word - Hope Reimbursement Policy (hopescholarshipwv.gov). Outside of the limited circumstances authorized by the Board for reimbursement, such as the purchase of off-the shelf curriculum, all purchases made by Hope Scholarship families should be made directly using the Hope Scholarship online portal. Reimbursement requests for out-of-pocket purchases that do not meet the specific circumstances authorized by the Board’s Reimbursement Policy will be denied by Board staff.

All reimbursement requests submitted in the Hope Scholarship online portal must include a detailed invoice that clearly indicates the items that were purchased so that Hope Scholarship staff can determine if the item is a qualified expense authorized by statute or the Hope Scholarship Board. Reimbursement requests must also be accompanied by proof of payment of the invoice, such as a zero-balance receipt.

A denied reimbursement request may be appealed by completing the reimbursement appeal form found here and submitting it by email to hopescholarshipwv@wvsto.gov. Pursuant to W. Va. Code R. §112-19-11, the Board appointed a three-member appeal subcommittee to be the arbiter of all appeals submitted to the Board.

No, your purchase is not eligible for reimbursement under the Board’s Reimbursement Policy. The Board’s policy specifically states that reimbursements will be denied if the account holder purchases the item prior to the Hope Scholarship funds being available in the student’s online portal account, even if the item would have otherwise been considered for approval.

The Military Service Member Policy ensures that families of military service members are not forced to choose between serving their country and ensuring their child(ren) have access to educational options that work best for them.

The Military Service Member Policy applies to West Virginia active-duty military families that wish to utilize the Hope Scholarship during their relocation in another state.

Once the student and account holder return to West Virginia upon completion of their active duty military duties, the student will be eligible to apply for the Hope Scholarship as long as the student is eligible to be enrolled in grade K-12 in West Virginia public school.

Hope Scholarship students who are temporarily relocated to another state due to active military orders will be treated just like all other Hope Scholarship students. They must adhere to all of the same rules and requirements as other Hope students. Additionally, the students will be required to maintain West Virginia as their State of Legal Residency (SLR) and certify that they will not participate in any full time public school program. The affidavit to certify that they will not participate in a public school program can be found here. This document can be uploaded in the online portal with the residency documentation required for the application.

Yes, the Hope Scholarship Board will need a copy of the active military orders as part of the application process. Please upload a copy of the active military orders with the residency documentation on the application.

Yes, with the expanded Hope Scholarship eligibility rules for 2026-2027, your existing homeschool/nonpublic school student will be eligible for the program under the Board’s Military Service Member Policy.

Repeating a grade in nonpublic school will not jeopardize your student’s Hope Scholarship funds. The Hope Scholarship online platform will automatically roll the grade level to one grade higher than the previous year on a CPC. The student’s nonpublic school will need to submit a letter on school letterhead with the recommendation and reason for the child’s retention to hopescholarshipwv@wvsto.gov. Upon receipt of the documentation from the school, Hope Scholarship Board staff will update the grade level on the CPC. Please be sure to submit your child’s CPC by the June 15th deadline even if the grade level has not yet been corrected since late CPCs are not accepted. The grade level can be updated after the fact and is not a reason to delay submission in the online platform. Please submit an updated Notice of Intent form to the county board of education notifying them that the student will be repeating a grade to help ensure that the grade level is updated in the WVEIS system as well.

Although annual academic progress through either a certified teacher portfolio review or through nationally normed academic achievement tests is a statutory requirement for the Hope Scholarship program, we understand that achieving the minimum levels for academic achievement may not mean your child has mastered all of the content for a particular grade level. If you believe that your child needs to repeat a grade level, please email hopescholarshipwv@wvsto.gov and outline the reason for that request. Please submit any supporting documentation that may help support your request for your child to repeat a grade. Examples of supporting documentation would include but are not limited to a detailed letter from the certified teacher who did the portfolio review outlining needed areas of remediation, a letter from a tutor or other educational specialist who works with your child outlining any areas where a student may be behind, grade printouts from a virtual education program showing your child has not mastered a subject, etc.

Your child’s CPC will automatically advance one grade level in the online platform. Once Hope Scholarship Board staff have received and reviewed your request, they will update the grade level on the CPC as appropriate. Please be sure to submit your child’s CPC by the June 15th deadline even if the grade level has not yet been corrected since late CPCs are not accepted. The grade level can be updated after the fact and is not a reason to delay submission in the online platform.

Please submit an updated Notice of Intent form to the county board of education notifying them that the student will be repeating a grade to help ensure that the grade level is updated in the WVEIS system as well.

Please note that you need to request for your child to repeat a grade level prior to or at the start of the school year. If you fail to get the grade level change properly updated and documented, there will be issues with your student’s academic progress at the end of the school year. The county board of education will be expecting annual academic progress information for the higher grade level and your child won’t make the statutorily required academic progress. A failure to make the statutorily required annual academic progress will result in closure of your child’s Hope Scholarship account.

For new Hope Scholarship applicants currently attending public school, the reviewer will be expecting to see one grade level higher than the current grade level currently reflected in the WVEIS system. If the student will be repeating the current grade level for some reason, the parent will be asked for documentation to support the lower grade level. Examples of documentation could include but are not limited to a report card from the current year to demonstrate that a child is performing poorly in public school, a letter from the student’s public school teacher or administrator indicating the student needs additional support and they recommend repeating a grade level, or a letter from the student’s new nonpublic school or microschool indicating the student would need to repeat a grade level based on the new school’s assessment of the student. Be sure to include the appropriate grade level on your student’s original Notice of Intent submitted to the county board of education upon acceptance into the Hope Scholarship Program.

The Hope Scholarship legislative rules specifically indicate that the Board may require a student who has already participated in a high school program for four years or longer to demonstrate that the student has an educational need to repeat a grade in secondary school prior to permitting the student to renew his or her Hope Scholarship account for another school year. Demonstration of the educational need can be accomplished through documented proof of a student’s disability or other documented educational issue which would necessitate additional time for the student to meet all graduation requirements. The legislative rules indicate that a parent may not unnecessarily delay awarding a student a diploma for the purpose of utilizing Hope Scholarship funds to pay for the student’s college-level education.

Yes, Hope Scholarship students with disabilities are able to remain in the Hope Scholarship Program until they turn age 21 if the parent/guardian does not issue a high school diploma to the student. After the student has been in a high-school program for four years, the proof of the student’s disability will be required to allow the student to remain in the Hope Scholarship Program. A parent may not unnecessarily delay awarding a student a diploma for the purpose of utilizing Hope Scholarship funds to pay for a student’s college-level education.

Yes, you should notify the county board of education that your child will be repeating a grade level so they can update the student’s grade level in the WVEIS system where the annual academic progress is stored. You can notify the county of the change through submission of an updated Notice of Intent form.

If your student is progressing an additional grade level beyond the expected one level annual progression, please contact the Hope Scholarship Board at hopescholarshipwv@wvsto.gov to notify them of the advancement. Board staff will need to manually update the grade level on your child’s current year application and also assist with manually updating your child’s Continued Participation Confirmation grade level if it has already been submitted. Please notify the county board of education of this additional grade level advancement through submission of an updated Notice of Intent that reflects the higher grade level. This will help ensure the county board of education has updated your child’s grade level.

If your child has completed two years of academic progress since their last submission of academic progress data to the county, submission of academic progress data for the highest grade level is all that would be required for submission to the county board of education. In this example, submission of a sixth grade portfolio review or nationally normed academic test results which show acceptable progress at the higher grade level would also demonstrate that the student had sufficiently mastered the fifth grade content. Please be sure to also submit an updated Notice of Intent with the higher grade level to the county board of education as well.

The Hope Scholarship account holder must be the student’s biological parent, legal guardian, custodian, or another person with legal authority to act on behalf of the student.

If the biological parents of the student are divorced or separated, the Hope Scholarship account holder should be the primary custodial parent who has educational decision-making responsibilities for the student. If educational decision-making responsibilities are split 50/50 between the biological parents of the student, the account holder should be the primary custodial parent of the student. Corresponding documentation (such as a parenting plan) must be provided to confirm parenting responsibilities. If the parenting plan alternates the primary custodial parent for tax purposes, either biological parent can be the Hope Scholarship account holder.

If either biological parent is re-married or the stepparent wishes to be the account holder, the stepparent must provide guardianship documentation showing they have legal guardianship over the child. If no legal documentation can be provided, the biological parent must be the account holder.

Any account holder who is NOT identified on the student’s birth certificate must provide legal guardianship documentation showing guardianship rights to the Hope Scholarship applicant(s).

Foster parents must submit a current WV Department of Human Services letter on official letterhead with a current date with the student’s Hope Scholarship application. This letter must indicate that you have educational decision-making responsibilities for the student. This requires a wet (non-electronic) signature from the case worker with their credentials identified.

No. Documents from foster care agencies are not sufficient proof of legal guardianship for Hope Scholarship applications. Documentation must come from the West Virginia Department of Human Services. See question above for more details. Submission of documentation from a foster care agency with the application will result in the application being placed into a “missing documents” status until the proper paperwork is provided.

If you cannot reach your assigned case worker to obtain the required documentation for the Hope Scholarship application, you may request this letter from their supervisor at the West Virginia Department of Human Services.

If your child was legally adopted, please provide and upload all pages of the adoption order for review when the Hope Scholarship Application is submitted. All pages must be uploaded in a clear, legible format. If pages are missing from the adoption order, the application will be placed “on-hold” for the missing order pages until the applicant can supply the complete adoption order.

Courts generally provide for the issuance of an amended birth certificate to update the child’s adoption status, including any legal name changes for the child and naming the adoptive parents. This amended birth certificate should be included with the Hope Scholarship application.

If you do not have your student’s updated birth certificate that reflects their adopted name, you can submit the student’s original birth certificate if the birth name is clearly identified in the adoption paperwork. It can sometimes take several months for the new birth certificate to become available and Board staff do not want to delay a determination on the student’s application for something that is outside of the account holder’s control. Please continue to work with your county to obtain the updated birth certificate for your child and submit a copy by email to hopescholarshipwv@wvsto.gov when it becomes available. Board staff will then upload the updated birth certificate into the Hope Scholarship online portal for record keeping.

Yes, it is the adoptive parents’ responsibility to submit an updated “Notice of Intent” to the county board of education with information about your student’s adoption and any related legal name change. Updating the name of the student on file in WVEIS with the county board of education will help ensure there are no issues with recording your student’s annual academic progress at the end of the year.

If you are a first-time applicant, please submit the application with the new name and include legal documentation regarding the name change with your student’s application, including their birth certificate. All pages of the legal documentation must be submitted – missing pages will result in the application being put on hold for resubmission with all pages.

If your student is an existing participant with the program, please email the legal documentation regarding your student’s name change to hopescholarship@wvsto.gov so that Board staff can update the student’s name on the application in the online portal. Student names are not editable by the account holder, so Board staff must make the change on your behalf. Be sure to also notify your local county board of education who is tracking your student’s Notice of Intent that their legal name changed.

All new foster parents for a currently participating Hope Student must provide the updated official WV Department of Human Services (DHS) letter granting the current foster parent(s) the authority to make educational decisions including enrollment. Please email hopescholarship@wvsto.gov the official letter showing your name, the student’s name, with a current date and signature from the DHS caseworker. Hope Scholarship Board Staff cannot accept documentation from a foster care agency. The DHS is the legal guardian of the student and must grant educational authority. After review of the DHS documentation, Hope Scholarship Board Staff will transfer the current application and wallet information for the student to the new foster parent’s Hope Scholarship account.

No. A student cannot be enrolled as a full-time student in a West Virginia public school and also participate in the WEST VIRGINIA Hope Scholarship Program. A student may, however, participate in the Hope Scholarship Program and be enrolled in a West Virginia public school as a part-time student. This would include taking a specific course through the public school system or receiving other educational services if offered by the public school.

Please be aware that if your student is enrolled as a part-time student in a West Virginia public school or participating in public school extracurriculars (i.e. football, band, cross country, etc.), your student will be charged tuition for their enrollment or participation. You may use Hope Scholarship funds to help pay for the cost of that tuition but are responsible for paying for such public school services out-of-pocket if you do not have sufficient Hope Scholarship funds available to pay for the services.

Yes. A student may participate in the Hope Scholarship Program and be enrolled in West Virginia public school as a part time student, which may include CTE courses. Please be aware that if your student is enrolled as a part-time student in West Virginia public school or participating in public school extra curriculars (i.e. football, band, cross country, etc.), you student will be charged tuition for their enrollment or participation. You may use Hope Scholarship funds to help pay for the cost of that tuition but are responsible for paying for such public school services out-of-pocket if you do not have sufficient Hope Scholarship funds available to pay for the services.

A charter school is a special type of public school that receives state funding to educate West Virginia students. A student may NOT be enrolled as a full-time student in a West Virginia public charter school and also participate in the Hope Scholarship program. You can find a list of West Virginia public charter schools on the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board website here: Schools | Explore Charter Schools Now — West Virginia Professional Charter School Board

Yes, West Virginia Virtual Academy (WVVA) is a public charter school. Full time enrollment at West Virginia Virtual Academy is therefore considered full time enrollment in a West Virginia public school. A student may not be enrolled as a full-time public-school student at WVVA and also participate in the Hope Scholarship Program.

Yes, Virtual Preparatory Academy of West Virginia is a public charter school. Full time enrollment at Virtual Preparatory Academy of West Virginia is therefore considered full time enrollment in a West Virginia public school. A student may not be enrolled as a full-time public-school student at Virtual Preparatory Academy of West Virginia and also participate in the Hope Scholarship Program.

No. Although your student may be at home while they are participating in the virtual program being offered by the charter school or the county board of education, they are still enrolled full-time in a West Virginia public school and you are not being charged for their participation in the virtual program. A student may not be enrolled full-time in a West Virginia public school and still receive the Hope Scholarship.

There are currently two statewide virtual public charter schools: Virtual Preparatory Academy of West Virginia and West Virginia Virtual Academy. For the most updated information and comprehensive list of all West Virginia public charter schools, please visit the list provided by the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board on their website here: Schools | Explore Charter Schools Now — West Virginia Professional Charter School Board.

Yes. The Hope Scholarship Board accepts applications year-round, but the timing of submission of the original application for the program will determine the amount of the Hope Scholarship received for the student’s initial year of participation in the program. All student applications are checked for statutory eligibility for the program, so please review the scholarship eligibility requirements for the applicable school year prior to applying for the scholarship.

If your student remains in or returns to public school at any time, the account holder is legally required to notify the Hope Scholarship program immediately so we can update your student’s application status and freeze any funding that has been placed in your student’s Hope Scholarship account. Students attending public school are not entitled to Hope Scholarship funds and Hope funds spent while a student is enrolled in public school are subject to repayment.

If public school does not work out for your student and you wish to again receive the Hope Scholarship, you will have to reapply for your student and will receive the reduced funding amount based on their new application date. If you are interested in reapplying in the same school year for you had previously applied for the student, please contact Hope Scholarship Board staff at hopescholarshipwv@wvsto.gov to initiate the reapplication process for your student’s existing application in the Hope online portal. When you reapply, your student will be reevaluated against the statutory eligibility requirements for the Program, so please review those requirements to ensure your student is eligible prior to applying.

No, your student may not reapply for the Hope Scholarship for the current school year. The Hope Scholarship legislative rules indicate that if a student returns to public school full-time during the school year, they are ineligible to reapply for the scholarship during the same school year but can apply to participate in the program for the subsequent school year.

If you do not know your child’s WVEIS ID# or know that your child does not yet have one, please complete the WVEIS ID# Request Form to obtain your student’s WVEIS ID# from the county board of education. Completed forms should be submitted by email to your local county board of education using the email address from the list found here. The form requests basic information for your student and also asks a series of questions to help determine if a WVEIS ID# already exists for your student. The county board of education will review the completed form and email you the correct WVEIS ID# for use on your student’s Hope Scholarship application.

The response time from the county board of education will depend on the volume of WVEIS ID# request forms received at any given time. County boards of education will make every attempt to provide a response back within 5 business days but may not meet that general timeframe when request volumes are extremely high.

Because WVEIS records for students are protected under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), there may be instances where the county board of education may request proof that you have a right to a student’s WVEIS records, including their WVEIS ID#. For example, if the student already exists in the WVEIS system with different parents or guardians listed, they may request proof that you are now the student’s legal guardian to ensure that they are not violating FERPA by releasing the information to you.

The Hope Scholarship Program’s application window is open year-round with the timing of submission of the student’s application determining the amount of funding received for the school year. Please refer to the chart at the bottom of the main page on Hope Scholarship website to see the application windows for the year for which you plan to apply for the Hope Scholarship Program.

Please contact your local county board of education using the email address from the list found here. Hope Scholarship board staff do not have access to obtain this information for you from the WVEIS system.

Yes, once your child’s Hope Scholarship application has been found eligible for the Hope Scholarship program, you will still need to satisfy the statutory requirement to submit an NOI to your local county board of education. Your student’s Hope Scholarship account will not be funded until Hope Scholarship board staff have verified your student’s NOI has been filed with the county board of education.

Yes, please complete all fields on the WVEIS ID# Request Form. The additional questions on the form are designed to help a county board of education identify whether a number possibly exists in WVEIS already for the student to help avoid the assignment of duplicate numbers for the same student.

Some students who have never attended public school in West Virginia but who have previously submitted a traditional homeschool notice of intent (NOI) may already have a WVEIS ID# assigned to them. The statutory requirements regarding traditional homeschool NOIs have changed over the years, so knowing the timeframe of when the most recent traditional homeschool NOI was submitted will help the county board of education more quickly assess whether your homeschooled student may already have an existing WVEIS ID# assigned to them.

Parents/Guardians are strongly encouraged to submit the WVEIS ID# Request Form by email to your local county board of education using the email address from the list found here. Hand delivery of the form could result in it being routed to the wrong individuals at the county level and delay the response time from the county board of education. Email submissions are easier to track, easier to resend to the county if necessary, and easier for the county board of education to reply to the parent.