SC gave $1.5M in scholarships to students who didn’t qualify, state oversight agency says
Around $1.5 million in taxpayer dollars was handed to families of students who were ineligible for state-funded tuition assistance, a report from the state’s Education Oversight Committee found.
Nearly 1,000 students of the 2,880 approved for the $6,000 scholarships, to be dolled out in four $1,500 installments throughout the year, were removed from the program in October after initial payments were made before the beginning of the school year.
It’s unclear how much, if any, of the money was recovered by the state Department of Education and what measures it’s taken to get the funds back. Department spokesperson Jason Raven declined to comment on the funds, but said further data would “be covered by our annual end-of-school-year reporting we will release this summer.”
South Carolina state Rep. Neal Collins, R-Pickens, said he has concerns about how the law is being enforced and about whether the money is going to the intended recipients.
“We have no accountability, we have no oversight towards what happens after purchases are made ... It’s just very concerning when we’re talking about public money and how it’s being used,” Collins said.
The education department was required by law to make the first payment in July, to assist families with educational expenses prior to the start of the school year, Raven explained in an email to The State. Raven said the parents agreed in writing to move their students from public school and pursue other educational options in order to remain eligible for the program and were provided training by the department on retaining eligibility.
The confusion over which students were eligible was two-fold, the report explained — partially caused by a South Carolina Supreme Court decision that came after the school year had already started and partially caused by a lack of understanding from parents on the rules of qualifying for the funds.
In 2023, the South Carolina legislature set aside $30 million to fund scholarships for low-income K-12 students who wanted to transfer to a different school — either private or public — for use with things like tuition, tutoring and school supplies, among other things. Students eligible for the program, known as the Education Scholarship Trust Fund, included those within a certain income level (under $64,300 for a family of four, for example) who attended public school the year prior, or not yet started kindergarten, and were transferring to another school, or those who had received a scholarship the previous year.
But last September’s South Carolina Supreme Court decision, finding the part of the program that allowed parents and guardians to use the funds for private school tuition to be unconstitutional, caused confusion among parents who’d already been approved for the scholarships over whether their child was still eligible for the funding. The other hiccup came from parents not understanding what requirements needed to be met for their student to be eligible — some believing they could use the funds for college and others not realizing that their homeschooled children would not be eligible regardless of the court’s decision.
Around half of the 243 respondents to the survey reported that their child had previously attended a South Carolina public school, as required by the law. But around 20% said their child had attended somewhere other than a public school, which included homeschool, private schools or college. At least six students had been homeschooled the year prior and one had gone to school in another state.
“My daughter was awarded a scholarship, she hasn’t been able to use the funds. We were told she will not receive the funds because she goes to USC. We did not know the funds were for K-12 and it did not specify on the application,” one parent said, in response to a survey sent by the committee.
At least some of the funds mistakenly sent to ineligible students were already spent by the time the education department put a pause on further payments. The funds were distributed through an online portal called ClassWallet.
“My son was awarded $6,000. I was able to use $1,500, but the next quarter when I logged in to ClassWallet, all the funds were removed from his account without an explanation or a phone call,” one parent said, according to a survey conducted by the oversight committee. “Why would you approve and award a scholarship then just take it away, that’s not fair or professional.”
The report paints the picture that the education department accepted applicants without first verifying their eligibility and recommends that during the coming school year’s application process, the department verify eligibility before dolling out the funds.
“This will ensure families accessing funds are eligible and won’t experience a termination when eligibility cannot be confirmed,” the oversight committee recommended.
In an effort to revive the use of public dollars for private school vouchers, both the S.C. House and Senate have passed their own versions of an educational scholarship account bill that would allow families to use state money for private schools, with proposed changes including the possibility of using state lottery money to fund the program.
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
