New Hampshire's Education Freedom Account runs through a scholarship fund, with a handbook worth reading slowly.
Programs in New Hampshire
- Education Freedom Account NH-EFA
New Hampshire families can sign up today.
Start freeA fund between you and the state
New Hampshire's Education Freedom Accounts are administered by the Children's Scholarship Fund New Hampshire, and the state's Department of Education also publishes information about the program. For a family, that makes two places worth knowing about, and one of them holds the handbook you will live by.
The practical rule is the same as everywhere: whoever administers the program is the one whose answer counts. Not a school, not a vendor and not another family. When you need a decision, get it from the administrator, and get it in writing.
The handbook is the document to know
Programs like this tend to rest on one long parent handbook that does most of the work. It is usually organized by category, with a section on what the account may be used for and a section on what it may not. Those sections are where a family should spend their time before the first purchase.
Read it once all the way through, then keep it open when you shop. Mark what is unclear and send those questions to the program. A handbook can also be updated from year to year, so check the edition date each time. Our guide to reading one is here: How to Read Your ESA Program's Handbook.
Habits that help in a program like this
Capture the receipt before you close the tab. Itemized, with the seller, the date and each line.
Say why, in a sentence. A purchase that looks obvious to you in September may need explaining by spring.
Keep the program's replies with the purchase they were about. An email answer is worth more in the same folder as the receipt than in your inbox.
Ask first when the purchase is close to a boundary. Awkward once, useful forever.
Where to get the real answers
Children's Scholarship Fund New Hampshire — Education Freedom Accounts
Eligibility, applications, timing, and what the account may and may not be used for are the program's to answer. We keep New Hampshire's figures and lists off this page on purpose. A handbook is revised, and a family working from a stale page pays for our mistake.
How CheckFirst ESA helps
CheckFirst ESA is an organizing tool. It gives you one place for receipts, a note on each purchase, a record of what you have submitted, and a reminder before something is due, kept for each child.
It does not decide anything. CheckFirst ESA does not decide; your program administrator does. When something is unclear, it tells you to check with your program before you buy.
Official sources for New Hampshire
These are the people who decide. Anything about amounts, deadlines or what your program will pay for should come from here, not from us.
Comparing states? See every ESA program we track, side by side.
Common questions
- Who do I ask about my New Hampshire Education Freedom Account?
- Start with the Children's Scholarship Fund New Hampshire, which publishes the parent handbook and the program's official family pages. The state's Department of Education also publishes information about the program. If the two seem to say different things, ask the Fund in writing which applies to you and keep the reply.
- How do I know I am reading the current handbook?
- Look at the edition date on the document and compare it with what the program's site links today. A handbook that a friend saved last year can be a version behind. If you cannot tell, ask the program which edition is in force.
- Does CheckFirst ESA decide whether an EFA purchase is allowed?
- No. CheckFirst ESA does not decide; your program administrator does. We keep receipts, notes and dates in one place so you can answer quickly when the program asks. Anything we flag is a prompt to check with the program, never a ruling.
- What do I do when the handbook seems to cover my purchase in two different places?
- Do not choose the reading you prefer. Write to the program, quote the passages, say what you are planning to buy and ask which applies. Wait for the answer before you purchase if the amount matters, and save the reply with the receipt afterward.
New Hampshire articles
We have not published anything specific to New Hampshire yet. Program-specific guides wait until we have checked them against the program’s own published rules. The general guides are worth reading in the meantime: all articles.