The gate: Approval as a participating school under the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program
What the rules actually say
We have not found a single sentence on the official sources that states the requirement cleanly enough to quote, so we are not going to invent one. The sequence below comes from our own state-by-state research, and every source is linked at the bottom for you to read yourself.
The sequence, in order
1. Form your legal entity + EIN. Form an LLC or nonprofit with the Texas Secretary of State, get a free EIN from the IRS, and open a business bank account. TEFA pays your school, so this comes first.
2. Operate as an eligible education provider. For Texas Education Freedom Account (TEFA) tuition you participate as an approved private school / education provider. Texas does not license private schools, but you must meet TEFA’s provider eligibility criteria.
3. Bind liability + abuse/molestation insurance. Carry commercial general liability that includes educational operations, plus abuse/molestation coverage — a homeowner’s policy will not cover a school.
4. Complete staff background checks. TEFA rules require criminal-history background checks for staff who have contact with students. Complete these before enrolling funded students.
5. Confirm zoning, occupancy & fire safety. Confirm your location allows a school (zoning), meets occupancy limits, and passes fire-safety code with your city/county.
6. Register as a TEFA provider (Odyssey). TEFA is run by the Texas Comptroller with Odyssey as the portal (EducationFreedom.Texas.Gov). Create your provider account, complete the provider application, and add banking for payment. The provider application window opens each cycle (Feb–Mar for 2026-27). This is the step we complete for you in Concierge.
7. Set up TEFA-compliant invoicing. Families pay tuition from their TEFA funds through Odyssey; your invoice must itemize student, service, dates, and amount. Use the template we generate above.
Where founders actually stall
Texas has no state registration for private schools at all, which founders read as "no requirements". The requirements arrive later, at the point you want ESA money to reach you, and they arrive all at once.
What we have not verified
Exact provider approval steps and timing for the Texas program, which is new. The state site was reachable but its provider requirements were not in a form we could quote reliably. Verify directly before planning around it.
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.
Get the Launch Kit · $950
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.