Nearly every question you might have is answered by the following documents on the official Hope Scholarship website. The Parent/Students section of the website is your best friend!
Here you can find:
The Parent Handbook: Pages 14 & 15 list the qualified/allowed items that are covered by the Hope Scholarship. The two-year technology policy can be found on page 17.
The Non-Qualifing Expense List (NQEL): This is where you will find a list of items that are NOT qualified/allowed and price limits on certain items.
The Reimbursement Policy: You should review this before making ANY purchases for reimbursement.
Parent/Guardian Portal Guide: This is the place to start if you don’t yet know how to use the portal for purchasing.
Reimbursement Policy: The Reimbursement Policy is extremely limited. Do not make any purchases you could not afford without being reimbursed!
Another great place for information is the Hope Scholarship FAQ page.
Please also join our Facebook group, HOPEschoolers in West Virginia. There you can find a lot of helpful information, search for the answers to many questions already answered, and get ideas on how to make the best of your Hope students' education.
The 2026 - 2027 school year is the first year of universal eligibility for Hope in West Virginia. This means that your child DOES NOT have to attend public school for 45 days or be an incoming kindergartener to be eligible for Hope.
We are so excited for all the kids who will be able to benefit from the program expansion!
The first thing you will want to do is fill out a WVEIS request form or get your child's WVEIS number from their public school.
You'll want to do this as soon as possible to give the county BOEs plenty of time to process the WVEIS requests prior to the application window opening.
The WVEIS ID Request form can be found here: WV Request Form
Send your WVEIS Request Form to the School Choice Email for the County Board of Education you live in.
You can find a list of the County BOE Emails to use here: County Board of Education Contact List
Once you have your child's WVEIS number, you can apply for Hope!
You will need a legal (not hospital) copy of your child's birth certificate, residency documents, and occasionally some additional paperwork to apply for Hope (particularly in the case of guardianship or other custody matters).
The best place to find out what is currently required is on pages 6 & 7 of the Parent Handbook.
Don't wait until the last minute to gather these documents and realize you are missing something! Birth certificates and other paperwork can take weeks or months to receive.
Grab your child's WVEIS number, the required documents, and get started on your child's Hope application!
After applying, if your child's application is accepted into Hope it will go to "eligible," status. This essentially means they will receive first Hope funding on August 15, 2026, pending receipt of your child's Hope Scholarship Notice of Intent (NOI).
The State Treasurer's Office (STO) has up to 45 days to review applications, but typically it does not take this long. Applications for the 2026 - 2027 school year will have the highest volume of any year due to universal eligibility going into effect, so some delays are expected.
Hope is not awarded based on lottery, income, or any eligibility other than being a resident student eligible for K5 - Grade 12 public education in West Virginia.
Next, you will submit your child's Hope Scholarship NOI to your county's school choice email. MAKE SURE YOU USE THE HOPE NOI FROM THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE. DO NOT USE ANY OTHER NOI.
The Notice of Intent letter can be found here:
The list of county school choice emails can be found here:
In July and early August, the State Treasurer's Office will work with the county BOEs to confirm receipt of Hope NOIs. Once your NOI is confirmed, you will be asked to choose your Hope track (IIP, Microschool, or Private School) in the portal.
Then, you will simply wait until August 15, 2026 for your child's first funding. You will not be able to access, view or do much in the Hope Scholarship Portal until funding. This is totally normal.
In the meantime, feel free to check out the list of participating service providers, which can be found here:
Or, you can search in the HOPEschoolers Facebook group to see if anyone has asked about or used a particular provider. Please, only post questions about participating providers if you have already searched on the website and the group.
Funding for Hope occurs quarterly on the following dates (25% of total Hope award each date, if you applied in the 100% funding window):
August 15
October 15
January 15
April 15
Prior to the 2026 - 2027 school year, Hope funding was semi-annual and occurred on August 15 and January 15. Do not let this confuse you. Hope funding is now quarterly as listed above.
If you make an order through the closed marketplace and aren’t sure how it is getting fulfilled, especially for digital/subscription orders, contact the vendor directly and tell them you ordered through Hope.
For difficulties with ordering, problems with shipping, missing items, and Theopay issues, you should contact the Hope Engagement Center.
Hope Engagement Center
681-999-HOPE (4673)
For problems with order denials, reimbursement, policy issues/questions, applications, you should contact the Hope Board Staff.
Hope Board Staff
304-340-5058
There are four ways to spend Hope Scholarship funding. All four ways are managed through a portal. You will never receive Hope funding directly through a check in the mail or any other means, this is illegal.
Private School Tuition: Private school tuition is paid through the Hope portal by selecting your child's Hope provider private school prior to funding.
Theopay: Click on Marketplace and look for provider tiles that are labeled, “TheoPay Enabled.” Clicking on those tiles will bring you to the vendor’s website. From there, you can use the TheoPay chrome extension to make purchases. Use the TheoPay tile on your portal homepage to install the chrome extension (it can only be found here, it will not come up in a public search). TheoPay can ONLY be used on a computer using Chrome on TheoPay Enabled vendor websites - it will not work on a phone.
Closed Marketplace: This is where you click on the marketplace and you use tiles NOT labeled “TheoPay Enabled.” Clicking on these tiles will show you the vendor’s closed marketplace offerings, which are somewhat limited. Most service providers are found in the Closed Marketplace. You may need to contact a provider directly after you order to initiate fulfillment.
Reimbursement: The reimbursement policy is very limited. It mainly covers curriculum, books, and online academic subscriptions with a few exceptions. Get to know the reimbursement policy! Reimbursements usually occur within 3 - 5 business days, but may take up to 14 days. You cannot be reimbursed for purchases made before your child's account is funded.
This page is operated entirely by parent volunteers. We receive no funding from outside sources, no pay, and have no affiliation with the Hope Board Staff or any other party associated with administering Hope Scholarship funding.
The volunteers who operate this website can be contacted at:
You can donate to help us operate this page. At this time we are NOT a nonprofit or 501(c)(3) (this takes money and time to form). Your donation will be used to pay for website hosting, email, and general Hope advocacy, which may include helping us form a nonprofit.
Official Hope Scholarship Website
(we are NOT the official Hope Scholarship Website)
HOPEshoolers in West Virginia Facebook Group
(we are NOT affiliated with the State Treasurer's Office)