Overview
Education Spending Accounts or Microgrants (ESAs) allow eligible families to use state-provided funds for educational opportunities such as educational therapies, tutoring, and more. Eligible Arkansas families can now shop for Learning Passports on your state’s Student First Technologies marketplace. This article will cover frequently asked questions and answers for prospective ESA and microgrant families.
What is a Learning Passport?
A Learning Passport allows parents access to view Outschool’s complete catalog of online academic, enrichment, and tutoring classes. The purchase of a Learning Passport adds the specified amount of Outschool Cash to the purchaser’s Outschool balance to use toward purchasing Outschool classes.
How do I purchase a Learning Passport with my Education Freedom Accounts funds?
First, you’ll need to qualify and apply for your state’s ESA program to gain access to state funds. Once you’ve been granted the scholarship from the state, you’ll gain access to an ESA marketplace called Student First Technologies. Outschool is an approved vendor that allows you to purchase Outschool Learning Passports with your Education Freedom Account funds.
If you are new to Outschool, create an account with the same email address associated with your Education Freedom Account (EFA) by visiting outschool.com. Once your account has been created and your order approved, your Learning Passport will be added to your account as Outschool Cash.
If you already have an Outschool account using the email associated with your EFA account, your Learning Passport will be credited to your existing account as Outschool Cash within 3 business days, ready for you to redeem toward future classes. Simply log in to access your balance and explore the wide variety of classes available to enhance your learning.
How can I use my Outschool Cash to purchase classes on Outschool?
Parents can then use their Outschool Cash to purchase a single class, or they can add classes to their Learning Planner and purchase multiple classes with one order.
You can then access the class at start time through your Outschool account as usual.
Why do I need to input my credit card when I have a balance to cover the cost of a class?
You’ll be asked to enter your credit card information for the limited purpose of providing identity verification. In other words, your use of a credit card serves as proof that you are the learner’s parent or guardian. We will not charge your credit card until your purchases exceed the amount of applied pricing offers.
How do refunds work when I purchase classes with Outschool Cash?
When you receive a refund from Outschool for a class purchased with Outschool Cash, you’ll receive a confirmation email immediately, and the refunded amount will be returned in its original Outschool Cash to your Outschool balance.
You can view your balance at any time from your Outschool account or your account transactions page.
How do classes with recurring weekly payments work with Outschool Cash?
When you click the subscribe button for a recurring weekly class, select weekly payments for fixed-length classes, or enroll in tutoring, the weekly payment will be automatically deducted from your Outschool balance.
If there are not enough funds in your Outschool balance to cover the weekly payment, funds will be drawn from your Outschool balance first, and then the remainder will be charged to the credit card on file.
How can I add additional funds to my account?
To add additional funds to your Outschool account, create a new order by logging in to your Arkansas Education Freedom Account.