RALEIGH — Families who had been waitlisted for an Opportunity Scholarship award due to a previous shortfall in the program’s funding have been notified that grants are awaiting their action.
The North Carolina Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) sent out notifications to families on Dec. 3. According to the NCSEAA, Opportunity Scholarship program (OSP) grant notifications went out for the 2024-25 school year to 54,000 students.
The NCSEAA said it also made offers to 2,000 Education Student Accounts (ESA+) students.
The funding was released after the General Assembly overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the bill that provided the $463.5 million needed to clear the waitlist.
Per the NCSEAA’s press statement, families will have until 5 p.m. on Dec. 27 to either accept or decline their offer. Any awards not accepted by that deadline will expire and cannot be reinstated.
To take the necessary action, families need to log into their “MyPortal” account and access their To-Do List. Once there, they can click on the link for “Respond to Award Offer.”
The NCSEAA will begin sending out the funds for the 2024-25 school year in January. The backlog funding will be retroactive by directing private schools to reimburse families who have already paid their tuition within 60 days of receiving funds from the NCSEAA.
For more information, visit the NCSEAA’s respective OSP page and ESA+ page.
Both the OSP and ESA+ programs can also be contacted by email at [email protected] and [email protected]
The NCEAA’s press release says there will be customer service availability by phone during regular Monday through Friday business hours at 855-330-3955.
The NCSEAA will be closed Dec. 23-25.
