North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Award Tiers for 2026-27: How Household Income Sets the Amount

By My Learning Source · October 29, 2026 · Scholarships, Guides, Tips

The single most common question about the Opportunity Scholarship is "how much will we get?" The honest answer is: it depends on your household income, your household size, and what the school charges. This article walks through the 2026-27 numbers and the rules behind them, so you can figure out your tier before you apply.

Where the tiers come from

The tiers are written into G.S. 115C-562.2(b2). The law ties each tier to the federal free or reduced-price lunch income level and to the average state per-pupil allocation for the prior fiscal year:

• Tier 1: income at or below the free or reduced-price lunch level gets up to 100 percent of the per-pupil amount.
• Tier 2: income above that level and up to 200 percent of it gets up to 90 percent.
• Tier 3: income above 200 percent and up to 450 percent gets up to 60 percent.
• Tier 4: everyone else gets up to 45 percent.

Because the per-pupil figure changes each year, the dollar amounts change too. That is why you should never budget off last year's chart.

The 2026-27 dollar amounts

NCSEAA's Opportunity Scholarship Income Guidelines 2026-2027 turn those percentages into dollars:

• Tier 1: up to $7,942 a year, paid as up to $3,971 per semester.
• Tier 2: up to $7,148 a year, up to $3,574 per semester.
• Tier 3: up to $4,766 a year, up to

Reading the income chart

The chart asks for two things: the number of people in your household and your total household income from 2025. Find your household size, then read across. Your income can be up to, but not more than, the maximum in a tier. If you are over, move to the next column. A few 2026-27 rows:

• Household of 2: Tier 1 up to $40,034, Tier 2 up to $80,068, Tier 3 up to
  80,153.
• Household of 3: Tier 1 up to $50,542, Tier 2 up to
  01,084, Tier 3 up to
  27,439.
• Household of 4: Tier 1 up to $61,050, Tier 2 up to
  22,100, Tier 3 up to
  74,725.
• Household of 5: Tier 1 up to $71,558, Tier 2 up to
  43,116, Tier 3 up to $322,011.

The chart itself gives an example: a household of four with 2025 income of $85,000 lands in Tier 2, because $85,000 is over the Tier 1 limit for four people. NCSEAA also posts an interactive income calculator and an income FAQ on its How to Apply page. Use them if your household has self-employment, multiple earners or a recent change.

Why tier matters beyond the dollars

Tier also sets your place in line. Under the statute, renewal students are awarded first. New students are then awarded in tier order, starting with Tier 1, until funding is exhausted. NCSEAA's 2026 announcement described the new-student lottery the same way: conducted by income level, with the lowest tier getting first priority.

The cap nobody mentions

The tier amount is a ceiling, not a check. The law says no award can exceed the school's required tuition and fees. NCSEAA's FAQ explains that MyPortal shows an award of $0 until schools complete what it calls Certification and Endorsement between August and October, when they report final tuition and fees for each semester, including discounts or school aid. So if a school charges $5,000 and you are in Tier 1, the scholarship pays $5,000, not $7,942, and the rest stays with the state.

Ask each school for its tuition and required fees in writing, after any discounts, and compare that number to your tier. If the school costs more than the award, you owe the difference.

Income verification

Your tier is based on what you report, but the law requires NCSEAA to verify income on a percentage of applications each year. If you are selected, you will be notified in MyPortal. The Opportunity Scholarship FAQ says NCSEAA accepts only an electronic IRS tax return transcript, not a paper return, and you need one for every household member who filed. You can request the transcript through the IRS Get Transcript tool. Households that did not have to file get a different form in MyPortal. If you are not told to verify, you do not need to.

Testing money for schools

One more line in the statute: for scholarship students in grades 3, 8 and 11, NCSEAA pays the school an extra amount equal to the cost of the required test. That money goes to the school on top of the award and does not reduce what you get.

What this means for homeschool families

None of these numbers can be spent at a home school. NCSEAA's rules exclude home schools, so the tier only matters if your child will attend a registered private school, or be co-enrolled in a home school and a private school with the scholarship paying the private school. For families with a child who has a disability, the ESA+ account is a separate program with flat amounts of $9,000 or