1. Paying with Georgia Promise at a glance
Odyssey is the program manager for the Georgia Promise Scholarship under contract with the Georgia Education Savings Authority (GESA). Families apply through the program’s website and spend in Odyssey’s portal. For tutoring, there is one route: the Odyssey Marketplace.
| Question | Georgia Promise rule |
|---|---|
| Where do I pay a tutor? | Only in the Odyssey Marketplace |
| How does the tutor get paid? | You direct funds from your child’s account to the provider’s offering; the provider is paid through Odyssey |
| Can I pay first and be paid back? | No. The only exception in the program is eligible transportation |
| Who can tutor? | An educator certified by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC), only in the subjects and grades on the certificate |
| Which subjects? | Core subjects. GESA’s handbook says “Only expenses for core subjects are eligible” |
| Can I cancel an order? | Only if the provider authorizes it |
| Will I get an invoice? | No. Invoices aren’t shared between providers and families for Marketplace orders |
| Is there a price cap on tutoring? | None is listed for tutoring (Odyssey’s caps are for devices and similar items) |
| Can the price differ for Promise families? | No. Providers charge the same fees for all students |
2. Before you can spend: opt-ins and quarterly funds
The Family Handbook describes the order of steps: your child is awarded the scholarship, you complete the program opt-in, you complete the Quarterly Opt-In, and funds arrive each quarter. Then the family “browses services/items on the Marketplace” and “directs digital funds to private schools, service providers, or vendors.”
The Quarterly Opt-In is new for 2026-27. Before spending in each quarter, you confirm in Odyssey that “my student is not in public school and will not attend public school while using scholarship funds for this quarter.” Until you do, you can’t make Marketplace purchases with that quarter’s funds.
| Quarter (2026-27 school year) | Dates | Scholarship payment |
|---|---|---|
| First | July 1–September 30 | Up to $1,625, released on or after July 1, 2026 |
| Second | October 1–December 31 | Up to $1,625 in October 2026 |
| Third | January 1–March 31 | Up to $1,625 in January |
| Fourth | April 1–June 30 | Up to $1,625 in April |
The full 2026-27 amount is up to $6,500, and GESA may withhold up to 5% for administration. Students approved in the August or November 2026 windows receive at most the January and April payments. See our amount guide.
One rule matters before you contact any tutor. Odyssey tells families: “Do not pay any invoices out of pocket if you plan to use your Georgia Promise Scholarship funds for that purchase.”
3. Ordering tutoring in the Odyssey Marketplace, step by step
- Opt in for the quarter. Complete the Quarterly Opt-In for the quarter you plan to spend in.
- Sign in and open the Marketplace. The family login is reached from mygeorgiapromise.org.
- Browse by subject. Odyssey’s Georgia tutoring categories are “English / Language Arts / Reading Tutoring,” “Math Tutoring,” “Science Tutoring,” “Social Studies Tutoring,” “AP Tutoring” and “Foreign Language Tutoring,” plus “Tutoring Aides.” There is no separate special-education tutoring category, so look for special education experience in each offering’s description.
- Read the offering. Each offering states its delivery method (“in-person, virtual, or hybrid”), and it must include the tutor’s name and certification in the description. Providers can sell single sessions or bundles; Odyssey’s own example of a bundle is “6-Week Middle School Math Tutoring.”
- Ask questions before you order. Because orders are cancelled only if the provider agrees, ask about scheduling, missed sessions and what the order includes first.
- Place the order. Odyssey says “Order information includes the customer’s direct contact information to help facilitate scheduling,” so the provider can reach you to set up sessions.
- Start sessions. Keep your own note of session dates so you can track what has been delivered.
Offerings don’t appear in the Marketplace until they are reviewed. GESA’s Service Provider/Vendor Handbook says “Product/service offerings from an approved service provider/vendor must be pre-approved by GESA prior to their inclusion on the program marketplace,” and Odyssey says offerings go to a review queue “for approval by Odyssey and, in some cases, the state partner.”
4. The tutor certificate rule (GaPSC)
The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act lists tutoring as a qualified expense only when it is provided “by an educator certified by the Professional Standards Commission,” and GESA’s program regulations name the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. The regulations say the same about providers, and Odyssey states it plainly: “In Georgia, tutors must be certified by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) to be officially listed.”
The certificate also limits what each tutor can teach. Odyssey’s offering rules say:
“Tutors may only provide services listed on their certification and for the grade levels covered.”
“Offerings with expired or invalid certifications will be denied or removed.”
A teaching certificate from another state does not meet this rule. Odyssey’s general requirements contrast Georgia with Iowa, where “Tutors may hold a valid teaching certification from any U.S. state.” In Georgia, the certificate must come from GaPSC.
Services such as speech-language or occupational therapy are a separate kind of expense: Promise pays for them only from a physician or therapist licensed in Georgia, in their own Marketplace categories. A tutor provides academic instruction.
5. How to check a tutor’s certificate fields
To be listed, a Georgia tutor gives Odyssey three things about the certificate:
| What Odyssey asks the provider for | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| “PSC Certification ID” | Which Georgia certificate the tutor holds |
| “PSC Field Code – Indicates the subjects and grade levels you are certified for” | The subjects and grade levels the tutor may teach through Promise |
| “Active PSC Certificate” | That the certificate is current, not expired |
Each offering must also include the tutor’s name and certification in its description; GESA’s handbook says to “Include the PSC-certified tutor name in offering title / description.” When you read an offering, check four things:
- Does the tutor’s certificate field cover the subject of the offering?
- Do its grade levels include your child’s grade?
- Is the certificate active?
- Is the tutor named in the offering the person who will teach your child?
If any of this isn’t clear from the description, ask the provider before you order. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission is the agency that issues Georgia teaching certificates. Our guide to finding a Promise tutor for a child with an IEP covers more questions to ask.
6. No reimbursement for tutoring
GESA’s Service Provider/Vendor Handbook says “Reimbursements will not be made under any circumstances, with the exception of eligible transportation expenses.” The Family Handbook says “Families will not be reimbursed for any purchases made outside of the Marketplace, with the exception of eligible transportation expenses.” Odyssey’s Georgia help center names tutoring services among the educational purchases that families can’t be paid back for.
In practice:
- If you want Promise to pay for tutoring, order it in the Marketplace. Don’t pay the tutor yourself first.
- You may still pay a tutor with your own money; the law doesn’t stop families from paying “from a source other than the account funds.” That payment is yours, though. The scholarship won’t pay you back for it.
- The one exception is transportation: up to $500 a year (for the 2026-27 school year) for ride-share or public transit, such as MARTA. Odyssey says gas and mileage are not covered.
Be wary of anyone who suggests paying privately now and having the program cover it later. That isn’t how Georgia Promise works for tutoring.
7. Invoices and your own records
For Marketplace orders, Odyssey’s vendor rules say: “Under no circumstances are invoices or documents containing transaction information to be shared between suppliers and consumers.” So a provider shouldn’t give you an invoice or receipt for a Marketplace tutoring order. If one arrives, ask the provider about it, or contact the program’s support team at 470-470-7057 or help@mygeorgiapromise.org.
It still helps to keep your own simple record: the dates of sessions, the subject covered and any notes the tutor shares. That makes it easier to see what has been delivered on an order and to plan your next one.
8. Cancellations and refunds
- No cancellations at will. Odyssey maintains “a ‘No Cancelation Policy,’ covering both products and services,” and “Service orders will only be cancelled if authorized by the vendor.”
- Refunds go through Odyssey. A provider can’t hand scholarship money back to you. The law says providers “shall not refund, rebate, or share account funds with a parent or student in any manner.”
Because of these rules, the time to ask questions is before you order. Ask how scheduling works, what happens if your child is sick or a session is missed, how long you have to use the sessions in a bundle, and whether your child can switch tutors if the fit isn’t right. The provider decides whether a service order can be cancelled.
9. Prices: what providers can and can’t charge
| Rule | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| No higher fees, and no fees that apply only to scholarship students | Regulations 14.4.3; Odyssey: “Charge the same fees for all students—no special fees for scholarship recipients” |
| “Do not inflate prices of offerings” | GESA’s Service Provider/Vendor Handbook |
| Prices must be “competitively priced in line with the blended market,” and “no additional charges can be added on top of their listed price” | Odyssey vendor rules |
| No refunds, rebates or sharing of account funds with families | Georgia Code § 20-2B-23(d); Regulations 14.3 |
| No price cap listed for tutoring | Odyssey’s price-cap list covers devices such as laptops and tablets |
Put simply, the listed price is the price, and it should be the same price any family pays. Cash back, gift cards, bonus sessions or a special Promise price are all warning signs.
10. What happens on the provider’s side
Providers are paid after delivering the first scheduled service: GESA’s handbook says this means “the service provider/vendor has performed the first scheduled service,” and Odyssey says “For bundle orders, the confirmation number is uploaded after the first session’s completion.” Payment then follows on “net-30 payment terms” by bank transfer through Stripe. Providers also don’t act for the state: the law says a provider “shall not be deemed an agent of the state or federal government as a result of participating in the program or accepting account funds.”
11. Paying Special Ed Resource with Georgia Promise
Special Ed Resource is an approved provider in the Georgia Promise Scholarship Odyssey Marketplace, with approved tutoring offerings there. Before you order, book a free consultation or call us, and we’ll tell you which of our offerings fits your child and exactly what to look for in the Marketplace’s tutoring categories.
- Tutoring paid with Georgia Promise must be provided by an educator certified by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC), and each Marketplace offering names its tutor.
- Across Special Ed Resource, our 40+ teachers are certified in special education, and our tutoring is online and one-to-one.
- We provide academic tutoring only. We don’t offer therapy or speech services.
- The Marketplace rules on this page apply to our orders just as they do to every provider’s.
- Promise starts at kindergarten. We also work with children from age 3.5, but tutoring before kindergarten is paid privately.
- IEP Momentum, our personalized homeschool plan and Homeschool Momentum are paid directly to Special Ed Resource. They are not Georgia Promise expenses.
Questions about your balance, opt-ins or an order go to the program’s support team. If you’d like to talk through tutoring for your child first, book a free consultation or call (844) 773-3822. The consultation is open to every family, however you plan to pay. Special Ed Resource is not affiliated with the Georgia Education Savings Authority, the Georgia Student Finance Commission, Odyssey or the State of Georgia. For official links, see our Georgia Promise help and contacts guide.