The gate: Approval as an Education Service Provider (ESP) under the CHOOSE Act
What the rules actually say
“An ESA can be used to pay for tuition, fees, and other qualified education expenses at approved Education Service Providers (ESPs) in Alabama.”
— CHOOSE Act — ClassWallet
The sequence, in order
1. Form the entity + EIN. Register the school as a legal entity with an EIN to apply as an ESP and receive ClassWallet payments.
2. Secure accreditation or in-process status (STATE GATE). Be accredited (or in process, as ALDOR determines) by an approved accreditor (regional, NCPSA, Cognia, AACS, ACEA, AISA, or comparable). Submit accreditation + financial-stability docs.
3. Implement Child Protection Act background checks. Obtain criminal-history background checks on all applicants/employees with unsupervised access to children (Alabama Child Protection Act) — a participation condition.
4. Submit the CHOOSE Act ESP application to ALDOR (STATE GATE). Complete the ESP application (open year-round) with accreditation + financial docs; ALDOR returns an approval decision within ~14 days.
5. Complete ClassWallet onboarding. On ALDOR approval, follow ClassWallet’s onboarding to enable receiving family ESA payments.
6. Set up annual reporting + standardized testing. Participating schools submit annual reports to ALDOR and administer annual standardized testing to participating students.
7. Bill tuition & collect via ClassWallet. ESA is $7,000/participating student; families pay you from their ESA through ClassWallet. Income cap 300% FPL for 26-27; the income test is removed for 27-28+.
Where founders actually stall
Alabama’s program is new, which means guidance is still settling. Founders who plan against last season’s summary get caught by changes.
What we have not verified
Current ESP application windows and processing times under the CHOOSE Act.
We would rather say this than guess. Everything above that is stated as fact carries a link to the primary source, so you can check us.
Sources
Get set up in Alabama
Get set up in Alabama
Alabama puts a state approval step in front of the money, so setup here takes more work than in a state without that gate. Both options are one-time. We never take a cut of your tuition.
Launch Kit · $1,450. Your Alabama playbook: every step in the right order, the document each one needs, and the operator tools (roster, attendance, tuition billing, evidence vault). You do the filing.
Get the Launch Kit · $1,450
Concierge · $2,950. Everything in the Launch Kit, plus we do the ESA-vendor registration with you in a working session, inside Alabama’s own platform.
Get Concierge · $2,950
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Free: the Alabama starter checklist
Free: the Alabama microschool starter checklist
Where to begin, what your state requires, and how funding works. No fluff.