How to Use Your Arizona ESA to Pay for Cosmo Tutoring

If your family has an Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Account, you don't need to pay Cosmo out of pocket at all.

Cosmo is registered as a Direct Pay vendor for Arizona's ESA program. Cosmo sends you an invoice for your tutoring package, and you submit that invoice through ClassWallet's Pay Vendor tool, where the state reviews it and releases payment straight from your ESA balance.

Arizona's ESA works a little differently than some other states' programs. Instead of a one-click marketplace order, paying a vendor like Cosmo runs through an invoice-and-approval step inside ClassWallet. Here's exactly how that works, and what to have ready before you start.

An Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) is a state-funded account administered by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), giving families roughly 90 percent of the state funding that would otherwise go to their local public school district or charter school. Arizona pioneered the ESA model in 2011 and expanded it to universal eligibility in 2022, making it the first state where every K-12 student qualifies, regardless of income, zip code, or prior school enrollment.

Funds are deposited quarterly into a digital wallet called ClassWallet, the financial management platform the state contracts with to run the program. As of mid-2026, nearly 98,400 students are enrolled for the current school year.

Award amounts vary quite a bit depending on your student's category. Most families receive somewhere in the $7,000 to $8,000 range per year. Students with a qualifying disability can receive significantly more, with reported awards ranging as high as $40,000 or more depending on their level of need. A handful of other categories, including active-duty military families, foster children, and students on tribal land or zoned to a D- or F-rated school, can also affect the award amount, though the base eligibility is now open to every Arizona K-12 student regardless of category.

Yes. ESA dollars cover multiple education expenses, and Arizona's own program page lists tutoring right alongside private school tuition, curricula, and educational supplies as an approved use of funds.

Most of the public conversation around Arizona's ESA focuses on private school tuition, since that's where the bulk of the dollars go. But tutoring has always been named as an allowable expense in its own right, separate from and in addition to tuition, whether your student is enrolled in a private school, a homeschool program, or a hybrid of the two.

Unlike some other states, Arizona doesn't split its ESA into several differently-named scholarships with different rules. It's one program, and tutoring is an eligible expense across every award category, standard or disability-based.

Cosmo is registered with ClassWallet as a Direct Pay vendor, identified by a green "Direct Pay" banner next to our name in the ClassWallet Marketplace. Here's the process:

1. Contact Cosmo or your Educational Consultant to set up your student's tutoring package. Cosmo will send you an invoice for the package once it's confirmed.

2. Log into ClassWallet through the ESA Applicant Portal.

3. Click "Pay Vendor" from the ClassWallet homepage and search for Cosmo. Look for the green "Direct Pay" banner to confirm you've found the right listing.

4. Upload the invoice Cosmo sent you as your supporting documentation.

5. Enter the invoice amount, select which quarterly funding "purse" to draw from, and choose an expense category such as tutoring.

6. Submit the transaction for ADE review. Once it's approved, funds are released directly to Cosmo and your child's sessions can begin.

That "purse" step matters more than it looks. ClassWallet splits your award into separate funding buckets, and some are restricted to specific expense types. If a purse is grayed out or marked "Restricted" when you try to use it for tutoring, that's ClassWallet telling you those particular funds aren't available for this transaction type, not an error on Cosmo's end.

Because this runs through a review step, build in a few business days between submitting your invoice and funds landing with Cosmo, especially for your first package.

• Confirm your account is actively funded for the current quarter. ESA funds can't be applied retroactively to a quarter you weren't yet enrolled or approved for, so a brand-new account may need to wait for its first disbursement before booking.

• Match your package size to what's actually available in your current quarter's purse, not your full annual award. Cosmo's tutoring packages run from 12 to 96 sessions, so check your quarterly balance before choosing a size.

• Keep your required annual assessment on file. Arizona's ESA requires one, though it's flexible, with no specific test mandated and no minimum score to maintain your account.

• Renew on time. Arizona's ESA application is a rolling, annual process with no fixed deadline, but a lapsed renewal pauses your ability to pay any vendor, Cosmo included, until it's resolved.

• Ask Cosmo for your invoice as soon as your package is confirmed, since ADE's review adds a short processing window before funds are actually released.

Does Arizona's ESA cover online tutoring?
Yes. Arizona's own ESA program page lists tutoring as one of several approved expenses, alongside private school tuition, curricula, and educational supplies.

Do I have to pay Cosmo out of pocket at all?
No. Cosmo is a registered Direct Pay vendor, so eligible families pay for tutoring packages straight from their ESA balance once their ClassWallet submission is approved.

What does the green "Direct Pay" banner in ClassWallet mean?
It marks vendors who accept invoice-based orders rather than full marketplace checkout. You'll see it next to Cosmo's listing when you search under Pay Vendor.

What if Cosmo doesn't show up when I search Pay Vendor?
Double check you're searching the vendor directory and not the Marketplace catalog, since Direct Pay vendors and Marketplace vendors are listed separately. If it still doesn't appear, reach out to your Educational Consultant or ClassWallet support before assuming your account isn't set up correctly.

Can I use ESA funds for a quarter before my account was approved?
No. Arizona's ESA rules don't allow funds to be applied retroactively to a quarter before your account was active and funded.

How much of my ESA can I spend on tutoring?
There's no separate tutoring budget within the account. Families draw tutoring costs from their overall award, typically $7,000 to $8,000 a year for most students, with significantly higher amounts for students with a qualifying disability.

Cosmo is fully accredited by WASC and currently registered as a direct-pay tutoring provider for 15 education savings accounts nationwide, including Arizona's ESA. That means Arizona families get the same live, 1-on-1 instruction in Math and ELA that every Cosmo family gets, paid straight through ClassWallet without any cost out of pocket.

Every Cosmo student gets a personalized learning plan built around their own grade level and goals, whether they're in a private school, homeschooling full-time, or splitting their week between the two, which is common among Arizona ESA families.

If you're weighing package size against your quarterly ESA balance, a look at what a typical session actually includes can help you decide how many sessions to request on your first invoice.

If you'd like to see whether Cosmo is the right fit before committing part of your ESA balance to a full package, the first 1-on-1 trial session is free. Book a free trial to get started today.