Funding High-Impact Tutoring

High-impact tutoring is fundable. The strongest strategies do not rely on a single temporary grant; they combine federal, state, local, and workforce development funds to build programs that can last. This brief aims to help states, districts, and their tutoring partners identify where tutoring funds can come from, how funding streams can be combined, and how staffing and implementation choices can extend tutoring beyond short-term recovery dollars. It is organized into the following sections: 

• Funding Sources for States;
• Funding Sources for Districts;
• Funding Sources for Families and Caregivers;
• Funding Sources for Educator Workforce Development;
• Using Funding Effectively; and
• Appendix: Tutoring Funding Sources Overview.

Key Takeaways

1. Diversified Funding is Helpful: Sustainable tutoring rarely depends on one funding stream.
2. Blending and Braiding Funding Sources Expands Possibility: Districts can combine instructional funds (such as Title I and IDEA) with workforce development grants, community partnership strategies, and philanthropic support.
3. State Leaders are Critical Enablers: State-level policy and infrastructure are beneficial, since many district funding pathways require state authorization, administration, or permission to use funds more flexibly.
4. Operational Efficiency Leads to Sustainability: Cost-effective staffing models combined with alignment to existing school programs, systems, and structures, can sustain high-quality tutoring beyond temporary federal recovery funding.

States are often the gateway to tutoring funds: they set priorities, opt into programs, and control pass-through opportunities that can expand district access. Funding sources for states are awarded to or controlled by a state agency, which sets priorities, approves uses, and distributes funds to eligible entities. Districts typically access these funds through formula or competitive grant programs or legislatively created initiatives. The programs below represent key state funding sources for high-impact tutoring, but are not exhaustive:

• AmeriCorps Seniors: Grants for state and local organizations intended to address community needs, such as tutoring, through adults 55+ in volunteer service.

  See Leveraging National Service in Your Schools: A Superintendent’s/Principal’s Toolkit to Utilizing National Service Resources for more in-depth guidance across all Americorps programs.

• AmeriCorps State and National Grants: Grant-funded positions to improve educational outcomes, including tutoring, for economically disadvantaged children; see Service Years as a Strategy to Improve Education Outcomes for details and examples of developing a tutoring program using AmeriCorps fellows, and Funding Resources for Education Service Year Programs for additional funding sources.
• AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America): Grant-funded positions to build capacity for tutoring programs serving economically disadvantaged students by providing organizational support.
• Title I, Part A: Funds intended to help close the achievement gap between high and low performing students and increase achievement in academic subjects. High-impact tutoring is an allowable expense, with specific sections that name tutoring including:
  • ESEA Title I, Part A, Section 1003(a) Direct Student Services: Allows states to set-aside up to 3% of Title 1 funding for Direct Student Services, naming academic tutoring as an allowable expense.
  • ESEA Title I, Part A, Section 1003(g) School Improvement Grants: Funds that may support tutoring targeted to high-need populations, including support for English Learners.
• ESEA Title I, Part C: Funds that may be used for tutoring to increase migrant student achievement.
• ESEA Title I, Part D: Funds that may be used for tutoring to support students returning from correctional settings, helping them meet state academic standards and remain enrolled to complete their education.
• ESEA Title II, Part A: Funds for training educators to deliver tutoring, including teacher candidate practicum experiences, professional development for teachers, and professional growth for paraprofessionals and teachers.
• ESEA Title III, Part A: Funds for acquiring and upgrading curricula and programs and for supporting tutoring for English Learners, including those with disabilities.
• ESEA Title IV, Part A: Funds that build state and local capacity to support academic achievement by delivering targeted, well-rounded instruction in core subjects; strengthening conditions for learning (i.e., trained tutors, SEL, and attendance supports); and leveraging technology (i.e., secure virtual platforms, devices, and data dashboards).
• ESEA Title IV, Part B: 21st Century Community Learning Centers funds for academic enrichment to meet state academic standards, including tutoring services, particularly for students in low-performing schools.
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B: Federal special education funds that may cover tutoring included in an individualized education program (IEP), high-quality instructional materials, and staff professional development when instruction is provided by a licensed special education teacher or by an aide under such supervision.
• McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act: Funds that assist students experiencing homelessness, including tutoring and supplemental instruction.
• Philanthropy: Funds from local, community, national, and corporate foundations that may be available to support tutoring.
• Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP-RLIS): Funds for eligible rural districts that support tutoring interventions addressing learning gaps in small or rural schools.
• See below for Educator Workforce Development funding streams that can expand and strengthen the educator pipeline while offsetting program costs including Federal Work-Study, the Tutor Registered Apprenticeship Program, and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

Additional funding sources may be available based on legislation enacted in specific states, such as community schools initiatives, compensatory/at-risk aid, extended learning and summer enrichment grants, and literacy and learning acceleration initiatives. See Snapshot of State Tutoring Policies for state-specific tutoring policies.

Local education agencies (LEAs) and districts do not need to wait for a single dedicated tutoring grant to provide tutoring for their students; they can often assemble tutoring support from federal, local, partnership, and path-through sources. Districts may use local funds, apply directly for certain grants, and many resources also reach districts via state pass-through formula allocations or state-administered competitive grants. In addition to funding that may flow through the state (see above, Funding Sources for States), the following local and federal funding sources may support tutoring:

• Full-Service Community Schools: Funds to partially cover the cost of hiring staff for tutoring roles and for supporting high-impact tutoring programs.
• Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP): Funds to support tutoring as part of a comprehensive approach to prepare low-income students to succeed in post-secondary education.
• Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL- US ED): Funds to improve literacy skills for students from low-income families from birth-grade 12, which may include high-impact tutoring materials, educator professional development.
• Local Funding and Partnerships: Funding or in-kind contributions from local government entities or school boards or through higher education, corporate, hospital, or community-based organization partnerships.
• Philanthropy: Funds from local, community, national, and corporate foundations that may be available to support tutoring.
• Promise Neighborhoods (PN): Federal grants provided to a nonprofit entity working in a formal partnership with a high-need LEA to provide flexible funding targeted for year-round K-12 interventions and can include tutoring.
• Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP-SRSA): Funds for activities structured under selected ESEA programs—Title I, Part A; Title II, Part A; Title III; Title IV, Part A; and Title IV, Part B—that can be applied to high-impact tutoring.
• See below for Educator Workforce Development funding streams that can expand and strengthen the educator pipeline while offsetting program costs including Federal Work-Study, the Tutor Registered Apprenticeship Program, and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
• See Appendix: Tutoring Funding Sources Overview for additional funding sources that flow through the state-level first including:
  • AmeriCorps Grants
  • ESEA Title I, Part A, Section 1003(a), and Section 1003(g);
  • ESEA Title III, Part A;
  • ESEA Title IV, Part A;
  • IDEA Part B;
  • McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; and
  • WIOA youth employment partnerships with local workforce boards (See Funding for Educator Workforce Development). 

If high-impact tutoring is not offered at their student’s school, families and caregivers may access funding for high-impact tutoring for their student from a number of state or local sources. The programs below may provide funding, scholarships, or other resources to support high-impact tutoring:

• Education Freedom Tax Credit: Beginning in 2027, parents may apply to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) for scholarships for tuition, high-impact tutoring, or other named educational expenses. SGO’s will be funded through tax deductible donations and states must opt-in to this federal program.
• Education Savings Accounts (ESAs): State-funded accounts that provide funding to families for approved education expenses, often including tutoring from vetted providers; eligibility typically depends on residency, income, disability status, prior public school enrollment, or current school setting, and allowable uses vary.
• Philanthropic and community-based tutoring programs: Free tutoring services may be available through local organizations that offer tutoring or scholarships for tutoring, however, programs should be reviewed to ensure that services align with high-impact tutoring characteristics. Program examples include YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs, United Way, volunteer tutoring organizations, libraries, or Tutor.com for military families.
• State family learning accounts or microgrant programs: State- or nonprofit-administered accounts or microgrants help families cover short-term learning needs, including tutoring (see https://www.211.org and https://www.findhelp.org for examples).
• State Scholarships: State programs may cover tutoring expenses; examples include Florida’s Step Up for Students and Louisiana’s Steve Carter Tutoring Program.

Some of the most durable tutoring strategies work by funding people, not just programs – through teacher preparation, work-study, apprenticeships, and service pathways. Educator Workforce Development for high‑impact tutoring includes strategies, funding streams, and partnerships that expand and strengthen the educator pipeline while offsetting program costs. It connects tutoring to teacher preparation, paraprofessional development, community service programs, and other approaches. These connections can help districts staff tutoring at scale through cost-sharing and other incentives with partner organizations. The programs and strategies below may provide personnel, training, funding, or other supports for tutoring:

• AmeriCorps VISTA, State, and National Grants: Grant-funded organizational support or tutor positions.

• AmeriCorps Volunteer Generation Fund (VGF): Funds that may be used for high-impact tutoring opportunities for high-needs populations to boost the impact of volunteers.
• Educator Preparation Programs: Course or clinical-hour placements that include tutoring for course credit or practicum experience (see Strengthening Pipelines and Serving Students and Mobilizing Aspiring Teachers as Tutors: A Policy Framework).
• ESEA Title II, Part A: Funds for training educators to deliver high-impact tutoring, including teacher candidate practicum experiences, professional development for teachers, and professional growth for paraprofessionals and teachers.
• Federal Work-Study (FWS): Funds may be used by higher education institutions to compensate qualifying college students to tutor K–12 students. See Leveraging the Federal Work-Study Program for P–12 Tutoring and Federal Work-Study Toolkit for Districts & Nonprofits.
• Federal and State Apprenticeship Funds: Workforce development funds to support employer-driven “earn-and-learn” Tutor Registered Apprenticeship Programs that staff trained tutors and support tutor coaching and development.
• Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA): State and local workforce funds that support paid tutoring roles, tutor training, and career pathways to expand the workforce delivering high-impact tutoring programs.

The following resources and strategies may help maximize the impact of available funding. 

• Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS): Implementing high-impact tutoring within MTSS opens additional funding opportunities and utilizes existing school structures to minimize added costs. See Integrating High-Impact Tutoring with Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) (2023) and Hoot Reading & Kansas City Public Schools: 2024-2025 RCT Report (2026).
• Outcomes Based Contracts (OBC): Tying tutor provider payments to student outcomes rather than service delivery through outcomes based contracting creates mutual accountability and incentivizes continuous improvement.
• Student Prioritization: Focusing high-impact tutoring programs on students who are most in need of support can maximize the impact of funding. See NSSA’s Selecting Students Reflection Guide.
• Strategic Staffing: Reallocating existing district personnel, schedules, or roles can address tutor sourcing challenges and maximize funding (e.g., Paraprofessionals as High-Impact Tutors: Opportunity and Guidance).
• Program Integration: Considering options for integrating high-impact tutoring with existing programs and strategically reducing costs while adhering to high-impact tutoring standards can ease implementation and maximize funding.

The National Student Support Accelerator appreciates the following organizations for sharing their expertise and contributing to this brief:

• National Education Association
• OnYourMark
• Partnership for Student Success
• Portland Public Schools

The following appendix summarizes tutoring funding sources using the following definitions: 

• State Applies Directly; Distributes Locally: The state can apply or opt-in directly for this funding opportunity, then distributes locally to districts and in some cases nonprofits, through formulas or a competitive process.
• District Applies Directly: Districts can apply directly to this funding source without the state opting in or applying first.
• Type of Grant: A formula grant is allocated based on predetermined criteria (enrollment, poverty level, etc.). A competitive grant requires application and a competitive review process.
• Timing: This is the typical timing given past grant applications, which is subject to change. The seasons are defined as: Fall (September-November), Winter (December-February), Spring (March-May), and Summer (June-August).

*Congress appropriates ESEA Title program funds in the fiscal year before districts use them, making federal dollars available starting July 1 to align with most school districts' fiscal years. Districts should check their state-level distribution schedules to determine when funds will actually arrive, as states manage the pass-through process and timelines vary.  Some programs are provided a smaller allocation on October 1.