History The Utah state legislature passed original legislation in 2019 called the Special Needs Opportunity Scholarship program and updated this legislation in 2024 by merging the program with the legacy Carson Smith Scholarship program. The new program is called the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship (CSOS). The legislation requires that a
PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENTS The CFEF platform allows qualifying schools to upload invoices for tuition and fees for attending scholarship students. Private school tuition payments will be made via a secure ACH process directly to qualifying schools on behalf of scholarship students as follows: A scholarship award of $9,348 will be
Violation of reimbursement policies may result in termination from the program and forfeiture of scholarship funds and repayment of any scholarship funds expended Any items purchased with scholarship funds must be used for specific learning projects, and may not be used for resale or gifting purposes (this includes
In the 2025-26 school year, CFEF will launch a new feature called TheoPay. TheoPay is designed to simplify the shopping experience while ensuring compliance with the CSOS program requirements. Parents of scholarship students will be able to download an extension that will interface with the CFEF system and most online
These policies are not arbitrary. They are in compliance with the Utah State Code outlining the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship (CSOS) program, and are designed to meet state-mandated auditing standards and ensure that all reimbursements can be properly documented and reviewed. Adhering to these requirements helps maintain the integrity of
Upon acceptance of a scholarship, the parent assumes full fiscal responsibility for the education of the scholarship recipient. The number of scholarships awarded in a given year varies based upon the amount of funds raised and the funds appropriated from the state. Funds will be disbursed based upon the following
