Iowa made its Students First ESA universal in 2025-26, but the practical questions families ask are local: is this school accredited, what is left after $8,148, which STO does it use, and when is the next window? Des Moines Edu Funding answers those for Polk, Dallas, Warren and Madison counties.
A School Funding Advisor reviews each funding check and follows up by phone. When a school or organization works with us, the listing says so, and that relationship never changes which funding sources we point a family toward.
Where the school data comes from
The school list combines two public sources. The Iowa Department of Education 2025-26 Nonpublic School Building Directory (address file dated March 16, 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026) lists every accredited nonpublic building in the state with its grades, accreditation type and accrediting agency; 42 buildings in our four counties make up 34 schools, and those are the schools flagged as ESA-eligible. The NCES Private School Survey 2023-24 (2021-22 for non-responders) supplies enrollment, teachers, religious affiliation and association memberships; it adds 5 schools that are not on the accredited list. Schools were matched by name and city and checked by hand.
Program figures come from the Iowa Department of Education's ESA page and expense guide, Iowa Code 257.11B, the Iowa Department of Revenue, Iowa HHS rules, the Governor's office and the Diocese of Des Moines, each checked in October 2026 and cited on the page that uses it. Tuition is not reported to either agency; schools can add it by claiming their listing.
Spotted an error? Email hello@desmoinesedufunding.com and we will correct it.
Des Moines Edu Funding is a Boss Leads project. We are not a school, a school tuition organization, Odyssey, or the Iowa Department of Education.