The ESA program diverts public school dollars for the benefit of educating students that qualify for an ESA in a private or hybrid educational setting. The Arizona Department of Education in conjunction with the Arizona State Treasurer’s Office is entrusted with ensuring that public tax dollars are spent in accordance with the law. ESA debit card restrictions are put in place to ensure monies that flow from the ESA program are spent to expand educational choice to parents and children but also to provide assurance to Arizona tax payers that all ESA funds are appropriated correctly.

Yes, although the school finance formula is complex, a ballpark estimate of award amounts can be seen by viewing the  Approximate Funding Levels document.

The ESA pre-paid debit cards have been restricted from certain transactions in an effort to reduce misspending. In an effort to resolve the debit card issue staff has created a list of approved spending categories identified by credit card codes (MCC codes).

Some of the MCC codes have been allowed due to vendors of approved expenditures sharing offices with other businesses or running multiple businesses from one location. Click here for a list of what ESA  funds can be used on.

If you are having difficulty accessing your card for what you believe is an approved expenditure please review our list of currently approved MCC codes. 

If you have an approved expense that is being declined, please obtain the merchants MCC code (Merchant Category Classification Code) from the merchant and if it is not included on the list of currently approved MCC codes please fill out this form and submit it to The Arizona State Treasurer’s Office at LorraineJ@aztreasury.gov .

Note: any MCC code that you wish to add to the approved list must be authorized by the Arizona Department of Education.

Please contact the Bank of America to report your ESA debit card as lost or stolen and they will be reissued.

You can contact Customer Support at 1-866-692-9374 

ESA disbursements may be delayed for the following reasons:

·         No expense reports

·         Late expense reports

·         Misspending

·         Missing credentials

·         Expired MET/IEP documents

·         Account Investigation