What TEFA covers: uniforms, laptops, tutoring and the full list of allowed expenses

Short answer, as of October 8, 2026: TEFA pays for a defined list of education costs, and only through the account. The official Families page names ten kinds of approved expense. The three parents ask about most are all on it: required uniforms (yes), a laptop (yes, capped at 10% of the year's deposit) and tutoring (yes, from a listed vendor who is not a relative). What TEFA never does is hand you cash or repay a receipt from a store that is not in the marketplace.

The official list

Quoted from the Families page, "approved education-related expenses" are:

1. "Tuition and fees at a private school, higher education provider, online educational course or program, or program that provides training for an industry-based credential approved by the Texas Education Agency."
2. "Textbooks or other instructional materials."
3. "Required uniforms."
4. "Fees for classes provided by school districts that do not qualify the child to be included in school's average daily attendance."
5. "Academic assessment costs."
6. "Private tutoring."
7. "Transportation to/from approved providers."
8. "Educational therapies not covered by any federal, state, or local government benefits (i.e, Medicaid)."
9. "Computer hardware or software (must not exceed 10 percent of the total amount transferred to the child's account that year)."
10. "Meals provided by private school."

The FAQ adds that online and out-of-state programs count "if the provider applies for approval and is accepted into the program", as do approved career and technical education programs.

Three rules that trip families up

The 10% computer cap. Hardware and software together may not exceed 10% of what the state deposited that year. A $10,474 private-school account allows about $1,047; a $2,000 homeschool account allows $200; a $30,000 account for a child with an IEP allows $3,000. A tablet and a laptop in the same year will usually not both fit.

No family members. "Funds may not be used to pay a family member." A parent, grandparent, aunt or older sibling cannot be the paid tutor, even if that person is otherwise a listed vendor.

Marketplace only. The Comptroller's June 30, 2026 release is plain: "Families can use TEFA funds only to purchase approved products and services through the secure TEFA Marketplace." School tuition is paid to the school through the portal; everything else is bought in the marketplace. There is no debit card and no reimbursement route on the official pages. Unused money "will roll over as long as the child remains in the TEFA program."

What is actually on the marketplace shelves

Odyssey's public help center lists the categories vendors can sell under. In plain groups: clothing and books (uniforms, textbooks, workbooks, fiction and nonfiction, audiobooks); curriculum and kits (curriculum, STEM kits, manipulatives, art and school supplies); technology (laptops, tablets, desktops, monitors, headphones, printers, calculators, an internet hot spot, software and educational apps); instruments and sports equipment; services (tutoring, behavioral, occupational, physical and speech therapy, online classes, higher-education and trade-school classes, fine-arts and PE instruction); test and exam fees; and transportation. A category existing does not mean every product in it is allowed; the Comptroller reviews each offering before it appears.

"Is X an approved vendor?"

We get this for Amazon, Kumon, Mathnasium, Outschool and school-uniform shops. Our answer is always the same: we do not state any company's status. The official finder (finder.educationfreedom.texas.gov) lists participating vendors by type and region, and the marketplace inside the parent portal shows what your account can buy today. If a company is not there, the account cannot pay it, whatever its own website says. Our provider directory lists the providers of the Comptroller's participating-vendors workbook by category, and by county where a row has one, each with the date that the workbook gives for it; it adds no vendor that is not in that workbook. Read how the Odyssey marketplace works for the purchase flow.

Planning the year

Because tuition comes first, most families at a private school spend the award on the school and have little left for the marketplace; the net-cost calculator shows the remainder after tuition and fees. Homeschool families spend the whole $2,000 in the marketplace, with the $200 computer ceiling. Families in the $30,000 tier should read TEFA and special education, since therapies count only when no government benefit such as Medicaid already covers them. The deadline tracker lists the deposit dates so you know when the balance grows.

How we verify: the expense list, the cap and the restrictions are quoted from the Comptroller's Families page and releases, checked October 8, 2026; marketplace categories are paraphrased from Odyssey's public help center with a link. Participation status of any school or vendor comes only from the Comptroller's participating lists (educationfreedom.texas.gov/toolkit, workbooks dated October 5, 2026). This site is independent and is not affiliated with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts or Odyssey. See our methodology.