How Riding Programs Can Tap Into Your State's Empowerment Scholarship Funding
How to Tap Into Empowerment Scholarship Account Funding to Grow Your Riding Program
If your barn offers lessons, you may be sitting on an overlooked opportunity. Families using Empowerment Scholarship Account funds are actively looking for quality providers to spend their education dollars — and with a little forethought, your barn can be one of them. That means new students, more filled midweek slots, and a more resilient revenue stream.
Here’s how Empowerment Scholarship Accounts work, what it takes to qualify, and why it’s worth your time.
What Is an Empowerment Scholarship Account?
An Empowerment Scholarship Account (sometimes called an Education Savings Account, depending on the state) lets families use state-allocated education dollars to pay for approved learning expenses outside traditional public schools.
Most people think of these funds covering tutoring or homeschool curricula — but equestrian instruction can qualify too, especially when lessons are tied to defined learning objectives: horsemanship, equine science, safety, and riding skills.
As of 2025, more than 20 states offer Empowerment Scholarship Account programs, with over 1.2 million eligible students receiving $6,000 to $8,000 each per year for approved educational services. That’s a large pool of families actively seeking quality providers.
How to Make Your Barn Empowerment Scholarship Account-Friendly
Here’s a quick rundown of how to get started:
- Check your state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account rules. Some states require provider approval or specific credentials. A quick visit to your state Department of Education site will usually point you in the right direction.
- Frame your program as education. Lessons should tie to learning goals — riding skills, equine care, theory, safety, horse behavior. Consider adding unmounted sessions to strengthen your program’s academic value.
- Create progress documentation. Parents need to show how Empowerment Scholarship Account funds are being used, so offer tangible ways to track student growth. Certificates, level achievements, and written evaluations all help.
A barn in Arizona built a 12-week riding and horse care curriculum, aligned it with educational outcomes, and submitted it to the state. Within a season, they had filled every midweek afternoon slot with Empowerment Scholarship Account students — time that used to sit completely empty.
Why It’s Worth the Effort
- New Revenue & Client Base: Most barns run thin on weekday availability. Empowerment Scholarship Account families often homeschool or follow flexible schedules, making daytime slots suddenly very bookable.
- Better Educational Value: Parents spending Empowerment Scholarship Account funds want quality — not just pony rides. A structured, progress-based program helps you stand out from barns that haven’t made the effort.
- Stronger Student Commitment: These families are intentional about their children’s education. They tend to stick around longer and engage more seriously with goal-oriented programs.
And if you’re already doing the work of teaching horsemanship well, you might as well frame it so it qualifies for funding.
How EC Pro Helps You Serve Empowerment Scholarship Account Families
Once you have a program in place, EC Pro makes managing it straightforward:
- Scheduling: Fill those underused school-day hours with Empowerment Scholarship Account riders without overhauling your existing schedule.
- Registration & Payments: Parents can sign up and pay online, including with pre-paid Empowerment Scholarship Account cards or invoicing where required.
- Progress Tracking: Record skill levels, horsemanship milestones, and curriculum goals — exactly what parents need to document educational progress.
- Attendance: Log every lesson, mounted and unmounted, so families have a clear, complete record for reporting purposes.
- Empowerment Scholarship Account Payment Flexibility: Whether your state requires invoicing or accepts prepaid card payments, EC Pro handles both.
We covered this theme of structured programming in our summer camp post as well — blending fun with educational value is something Empowerment Scholarship Account families look for and appreciate.
If you haven’t looked into becoming an Empowerment Scholarship Account provider, it’s worth your time — especially if your barn could use a lift during the midweek lull. It’s not just about more riders. It’s about building a program that educates, empowers, and sustains your business.
Related reading: preparing your barn to grow in 2026, growing your riding school.
Book a demo to see how EC Pro supports Empowerment Scholarship programs.
Book a demo to see how EC Pro supports Empowerment Scholarship programs.
Book a demo to see how EC Pro supports Empowerment Scholarship programs.