Utah Fits All Scholarship freed parents from financial constraints, enabling an “unparalleled educational experience”

Utah’s universal education savings account, the Utah Fits All Scholarship, is aptly named. Its purpose is to ensure the education it provides “fits” the student, and parents who use the program say it does just that: letting them personalize education for their child as an individual.

The Legislature created the program so those who aren’t well served in another educational setting could get the flexible help they need with the scholarship. Long waitlists show that more families feel their child falls into that category than can receive a scholarship.

Below is a story from a mother who has been using the Utah Fits All Scholarship program. Lawmakers should expand the program by fully funding it.

From “Can we afford this?” to “Is this the right opportunity for my child?”

One mother, Natalie D., has three sons who were awarded the home-based Utah Fits All Scholarship for the first time this year. While they have been homeschooling for about six years and have used “other public education partnerships that allow families to educate their children at home while providing funding for educational options,” she notes that “UFA seems to outweigh them by far.”

“UFA has allowed us to give our sons an education that, without the scholarship, would honestly have been unimaginable for our family,” she said.

Since receiving the scholarship, Natalie realized how much her finances were holding her back as their home educator. “I have always had a vision for the education I wanted to give my boys,” she said. “But there were so many things I would think, ‘That would be amazing, but we just can’t afford it.’ Now, instead of asking, ‘Can we afford this?’ I can ask, ‘Is this the right opportunity for my child?’”

The education she’s been able to create includes “music lessons, theater, art curriculum and supplies, language arts curriculum, online classes with amazing teachers, computers and educational resources like typing courses, lots and lots of books, and opportunities for sports and activities that have been integral to my boys’ education and development.”

They also take advantage of “a nearby homeschool community with a licensed teacher who provides an unparalleled educational experience for my two middle boys. They get the benefit of an incredible teacher and small learning community while we still get to homeschool, along with outdoor activities our whole family can enjoy.”

Natalie said, “I love that UFA allows me to look at each of my sons as an individual and choose what will help him learn, grow, and thrive. It has allowed us to move from simply making homeschooling work to truly creating the education I have always wanted for my boys. I am incredibly grateful for UFA and hope Utah will continue to invest in and expand this program so more families can experience the same freedom and opportunity.”

Expanding the program and what it means to educate the public

No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, we all agree we want to educate kids well. We all believe the public needs to be educated, but whether “public education” must be structured as a particular system of school buildings and teachers that approaches learning in a state-standardized way is increasingly being questioned by thoughtful people.

Already, some of the public is educated in private schools, public schools, and homeschools. We ought to expand our view of what it means to educate the public – and that requires fully funding a program like the Utah Fits All Scholarship program.