How to become an ESA vendor in Georgia

Georgia's new $6,500 Promise Scholarship went live for 2025-2026 and pays approved providers through Odyssey and Stripe — register now to list before families direct their quarterly funds.

Program: Georgia Promise Scholarship Pays via: Odyssey $6,500/student (disbursed quarterly)

Key dates

  • Rolling 2026 — Service-provider applications open in periods through the year. Apply via the Odyssey vendor portal when a window is open.
The three steps to get paid as a Georgia Georgia Promise Scholarship vendor: register with Odyssey, send a compliant invoice, then get paid Register Invoice Get paid
The path to getting paid in Georgia: register → invoice → paid.

What is the Georgia Promise Scholarship program?

Georgia’s Georgia Promise Scholarship is a education savings account: the state deposits public funds into an account a family controls, and they spend it with approved vendors on tuition, tutoring, curriculum, and therapies. Enrollment: launched 2025-2026; funding supports roughly 21,000 scholarships. For providers, that means a growing pool of families with funds to spend — if you’re a registered vendor who can invoice correctly.

Who can be a vendor?

  • Tutors
  • Therapists
  • Curriculum & resource sellers
  • Private schools
  • Online course providers

How to register as an ESA vendor in Georgia

  1. Apply as a service provider during an open application period on the Odyssey vendor portal.
  2. Meet expense-specific rules: tutors need an active Georgia PSC certification; therapists/physicians need Georgia licensure; businesses need a business license.
  3. Get your application reviewed and approved by GESA, then submit each offering for pre-approval before it lists.
  4. Connect a Stripe account so funds route to your bank, and fulfill orders to trigger payment.

How you get paid

Odyssey acts as the program manager and marketplace — you list services and it deposits funds into your business bank account.

How Georgia ESA funds flow from the family and state through Odyssey to your business bank account once your invoice is approved ESA family + state funds Odyssey approves invoice Your bank paid via ACH compliant invoice funds released

There are two ways the money reaches you in Georgia:

  • Direct pay — the program pays you directly through Odyssey for an approved invoice, with no out-of-pocket cost to the family. This is the faster path; funds typically arrive within roughly one to two weeks of approval.
  • Reimbursement — the family pays you first, then submits your invoice to be reimbursed. This adds a step and usually takes longer, so most vendors prefer direct pay where it’s offered.

How long does Georgia ESA payment take?

Once your invoice is submitted and approved, direct-pay deposits through Odyssey generally land in your business bank account within one to two weeks. The single biggest cause of delay isn’t the program’s processing time — it’s a rejected invoice that has to be corrected and resubmitted, which can add weeks. Getting the invoice right the first time is the fastest way to get paid.

What Georgia Promise Scholarship funds can pay for

  • Private school tuition & fees
  • Tutoring (PSC-certified)
  • Therapies (OT/speech/behavioral/physical)
  • Curriculum & instructional materials
  • Approved technology
  • Transportation (up to $500/yr)

Invoicing without rejections

The fastest way to lose money in Georgia isn’t failing to register — it’s sending invoices that bounce. Odyssey rejects invoices missing required details, and each rejection means re-submitting and waiting again. Your invoices must include:

  • Provider (vendor) full legal name and address
  • Student's full name
  • Parent / account-holder name
  • Invoice date and the dates of service covered
  • Itemised description of each service or product
  • The educational subject / purpose of each service
  • Quantity / hours, unit price, and total amount due
  • Provider credentials or license where the service requires one
A rejected Georgia ESA invoice missing required fields beside an approved, compliant invoice that gets paid Rejected Approved & paid
Left: missing fields → rejected. Right: every field present → approved and paid.

See the full Georgia ESA invoice requirements → or build a compliant Georgia invoice now (free).

The most common reasons Georgia ESA invoices get rejected

Almost every rejected Georgia Promise Scholarship invoice fails for one of a handful of avoidable reasons. Check yours against this list before you submit to Odyssey:

  • A receipt instead of an invoice. A Square, PayPal, or point-of-sale receipt is not sufficient — programs require an itemised invoice.
  • Missing service dates. Each line needs the date the service was delivered, not just the invoice date.
  • A vague description with no educational subject. “Tutoring” isn’t enough; reviewers want the subject (e.g. “3rd-grade reading”).
  • No provider credential where one is required. Where the service is licensed, the credential must be shown.
  • Missing student or account-holder name. The invoice must tie the service to a specific enrolled student.

Records to keep for a Georgia ESA audit

Georgia Promise Scholarship vendors can be reviewed, so keep a clean, per-student record set. Being able to produce these on request is what keeps the funds flowing:

  • Tutor PSC certificate, ID and field code
  • Therapist Georgia license
  • Business license and order-fulfillment evidence
  • A dated log of each service or session delivered.

Georgia ESA vendor FAQ

Who can become an ESA vendor in Georgia?

Tutors, Therapists, Curriculum & resource sellers, Private schools, Online course providers can register as Georgia Promise Scholarship vendors in Georgia. Apply as a service provider during an open application period on the Odyssey vendor portal.

How do Georgia ESA vendors get paid?

Odyssey acts as the program manager and marketplace — you list services and it deposits funds into your business bank account.

What do Georgia ESA invoices have to include?

Every invoice must show: Provider (vendor) full legal name and address; Student's full name; Parent / account-holder name; Invoice date and the dates of service covered; Itemised description of each service or product. Missing any of these is the most common reason payments are rejected.

What can Georgia Promise Scholarship funds be spent on?

Approved categories include Private school tuition & fees, Tutoring (PSC-certified), Therapies (OT/speech/behavioral/physical), Curriculum & instructional materials, Approved technology, Transportation (up to $500/yr).

Official program: https://mygeorgiapromise.org/. Rules change — verify against the current program handbook before submitting.