Eligible home-school students would receive $1,500 yearly through Opportunity Scholarships

The State Education Assistance Authority would award eligible home-school students $1,500 each year through Opportunity Scholarships. Students must live in North Carolina, have no high school diploma, qualify to attend public school, and attend a home school recognized by the state's Division of Nonpublic Education. Students cannot have enrolled full time in a college or other postsecondary school while taking at least 12 hours of academic credit, or been placed in a nonpublic school or facility by a public agency at public expense. A child age four on or before April 16 could qualify for the following school year if the school's principal or equivalent finds that the child meets the scholarship agency's requirements and submits those findings. Money could cover required books, equipment, and other required items. It could not cover tuition, fees, or transportation. Participating home schools would have to meet the state's home-school requirements. If enacted, these rules would apply to scholarship applications beginning with the 2027–2028 school year. The stated effective date is July 1, 2026.

The state would set aside $250 million in additional yearly funding for the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve. The funding would support the statewide Opportunity Scholarship program. The money would come from the state's General Fund. Scheduled yearly reserve funding would be $950 million for 2027–2028, $975 million for 2028–2029, and $1 billion for 2029–2030. Scheduled yearly reserve funding would be $1.025 billion for 2030–2031, $1.05 billion for 2031–2032, and $1.075 billion for 2032–2033 and each year afterward. The additional yearly funding would begin in fiscal year 2026–2027. The proposal states an effective date of July 1, 2026.

The scholarship agency would bar certain other schools from receiving scholarships when a closed school fails to report its closure and return owed money. This covers nonpublic schools opened during the closure school year or later by the closed school's owner, chief administrator, or parent listed in its report to the state. The school must have closed during its regular school schedule and failed both to report its closure within 14 days and to return money owed to the scholarship agency on time. The bar would last until the scholarship agency determines that the repayment obligation has been met. The proposal applies to applications beginning with the 2027–2028 school year.