MicroschoolLaunchKit
Texas · updated 2026-08-30

What actually gates TEFA money in Texas: two years, or the vendor marketplace

Texas is the largest school-choice program in the country and the most misunderstood by new founders. There are two separate doors, and almost everyone knocks on the wrong one. As a school, TEFA requires accreditation and a two-year operating track record, so a school opening this year cannot bill TEFA as a school. As a vendor in the program marketplace, applications are open on a rolling basis and the bar is far lower. If you are new, the vendor door is the one to read about.

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The gate: Accreditation plus two years of operating history to participate as a school — or approval as a marketplace vendor, which is open to new operators

What the rules actually say

“Be a proven operator that has successfully run a campus for at least two years.”

— Texas Education Freedom Accounts — Schools

“Be accredited by an organization recognized by the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission (TEPSAC) or by the Texas Education Agency.”

— Texas Education Freedom Accounts — Schools

“Providers and vendors can apply at any time to participate in the Texas Education Freedom Accounts marketplace.”

— Texas Education Freedom Accounts — Providers and Vendors

“All vendor applications and offerings will be reviewed by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts to determine eligibility before appearing in the marketplace.”

— Texas Education Freedom Accounts — Providers and Vendors

The sequence, in order

1. Decide which door you are going through. This is the gate. School or vendor. This decision changes everything downstream, and getting it wrong costs a year. If you have been operating less than two years, you are a vendor.
2. Form the entity and get the right to transact business in Texas. Approved providers and vendors must have the right to transact business in Texas. Entity, EIN, bank account, Secretary of State registration.
3. Secure a code-compliant facility. Zoning, occupancy and fire safety are city and county matters in Texas, not state ones.
4. Bind liability and abuse/molestation insurance. A homeowner's policy will not cover a school or a teaching service.
5. If you are going the vendor route: apply through the marketplace. This is the gate. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and are reviewed by the Texas Comptroller before your offering appears in the marketplace. Vendors can offer tutoring, therapy and teaching services, courses, and instructional materials.
6. If you are going the school route: start accreditation now. TEPSAC-recognised accreditation takes time and you also need two years of operating history, so the clock starts the day you open, not the day you apply.
7. Set up invoicing through Odyssey. Odyssey is the program administrator families pay through. Getting this clean is what turns an approval into money in your account.

Where founders actually stall

The expensive mistake in Texas is assuming that because Texas does not license or accredit private schools in general, TEFA will not ask for accreditation either. TEFA asks for both accreditation and two years of history. Founders plan a first-year budget around scholarship money that cannot legally reach them as a school until year three. If you are new, plan around the vendor route or around private tuition, and treat TEFA school participation as a year-three goal.

What we have not verified

How the Comptroller treats a microschool that applies as a vendor offering "teaching services" rather than tuition. The published vendor categories include teaching services, but we have not confirmed how a full-time microschool program is classified in review, and it matters a great deal. Ask the program directly before you build a budget on it.

Current review times for vendor applications. The program says applications are accepted on a rolling basis but does not publish a decision timeline we could verify.

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 Texas

Get set up in Texas

Texas has no pre-approval step before funding, which makes it one of the lighter states to set up in. Both options are one-time. We never take a cut of your tuition.

Launch Kit · $950. Your Texas 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.

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Concierge · $1,995. Everything in the Launch Kit, plus we do the ESA-vendor registration with you in a working session, inside Texas’s own platform.

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Free: the Texas starter checklist

Free: the Texas microschool starter checklist

Where to begin, what your state requires, and how funding works. No fluff.

MicroschoolLaunchKit provides general educational guidance, not legal advice, and is not affiliated with any state agency or ESA program administrator. Requirements and dollar figures change and some details here are still being verified — always confirm with your state's official sources before acting.