Why Customer Service Matters
As education savings accounts (ESAs) and scholarship programs expand, families must navigate complex rules and systems. Effective customer support is critical to ensuring these programs function smoothly, are accessible, and meet their intended goals. South Carolina’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) illustrates how policy changes and legal challenges can create confusion, emphasizing the need for strong, built-in support structures.
Case Study
The ESTF, signed into law in May 2023, aimed to provide $6,000 scholarships to qualifying families. However, just weeks into the school year, a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling blocked the use of program funds for private school tuition, leaving families scrambling for alternatives. Many had joined the program specifically to enroll their children in private schools, making this ruling especially disruptive. Dedicated outreach and personalized support were crucial in helping families pivot and effectively use their scholarship funds for tutoring, therapy, and other educational expenses. In response, private organizations also provided emergency tuition assistance to bridge the gap for those already enrolled in private school.
This change underscored the need for additional support to help families understand program requirements, access funds efficiently, and adapt to evolving policies.
Approach
Families participating in direct funding programs often face challenges in understanding eligibility requirements, navigating application processes, and effectively using their funds. To address these challenges, the contracted program administrator for South Carolina’s ESTF program partnered with nonprofit organization Outschool.org, to provide dedicated family support services through their Outbridge model. This collaboration ensures that parents receive clear guidance, personalized assistance, and ongoing engagement to maximize their use of program funds.
Key components of this approach include:
- Proactive Outreach & Awareness – Many families are unaware of available funding or struggle to complete applications. Effective programs use targeted outreach—via email, text, and community organizations—to inform and engage families early.
- Application & Enrollment Assistance – Streamlining the application process through clear guidance, multilingual support, and hands-on assistance helps ensure families can successfully enroll.
- Navigation & Spending Guidance – Direct funding programs offer flexibility, but without clear information, families may struggle to make the best use of funds. Programs that provide one-on-one support, instructional materials, and live assistance empower families to utilize funds effectively.
- Multi-Channel Customer Support – Families benefit from responsive support available through phone, text, chat, and in-person assistance. A strong support network reduces frustration and increases program participation.
- Ongoing Engagement & Accountability – Tracking participation and spending behavior helps identify families who need additional support. Programs that provide follow-up reminders and check-ins help ensure funds are fully utilized and meet intended outcomes.
The impact of this approach is evident in similar state-led initiatives. For example, Virginia’s Learning Acceleration Grants program saw a high number of low-income families struggle to activate their accounts. By implementing targeted outreach and personalized support, engagement efforts successfully converted thousands of inactive users into active participants. Outschool.org successfully converted 1,800 inactive families previously at risk of being withdrawn from the program, into active, engaged users. As a result, this subgroup of previously disengaged users exhausted more than $4M in funding by the end of the program, all of which would have been otherwise forfeited.
In South Carolina, applying these principles to the ESTF program helps families navigate shifting policies and maximize the benefits of available scholarships. By prioritizing comprehensive, family-centered support, states can enhance program participation, simplify processes, and ultimately expand educational opportunities for students.
Results
The Outbridge model, emphasizing proactive, multi-channel customer support and personalized family engagement, delivered significant results for South Carolina’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) despite major policy disruptions:
- 85% of active student accounts utilized scholarship funds, even after the court ruling blocked private school tuition payments.
- A targeted outreach campaign—including new online tools, over 200 personalized calls, and emails—motivated 26% of previously non-spending families to begin using their funds within one month.
- 73% of families persisted in the program and made non-tuition purchases post-court ruling, overcoming initial barriers to engagement.
- Renewal rates for Year 2 increased from 65% to 85% within a month. When focusing on actively spending families (excluding 12th graders), the renewal rate reached 94%.
These outcomes underscore the critical role of proactive, multi-channel customer support in maintaining high engagement levels and ensuring that scholarship funds are fully utilized, even during periods of legal and policy uncertainty.
Go deeper on the importance of effective customer service for ESA programs in Chapter 3 of the ESA Implementation Roadmap.
Best Practices in Family Support
Successful direct funding programs prioritize:
- Simplified Application Processes – reducing bureaucratic barriers to access.
- Flexible Payment Models – direct vendor payments, debit cards, and minimal reimbursement delays.
- Responsive Customer Support – multi-channel assistance (phone, text, chat) for real-time guidance.
- Comprehensive Onboarding – clear documentation, step-by-step videos, and FAQs.
Key Metrics for Success
To evaluate program effectiveness, states should track:
- Application Completion Rates – how many families successfully enroll.
- Customer Service Utilization – number and resolution of inquiries.
- Parental Satisfaction – feedback on accessibility and clarity.
- Fund Utilization – how effectively families use allocated funds.
Recommendations
For ESAs and similar programs to succeed, programs need:
- Dedicated customer service teams.
- Streamline application and approval processes.
- Clear onboarding resources.
- Multiple, user-friendly payment options.
- Access to trusted resources
- Support structures based on user feedback.
South Carolina’s experience underscores a critical lesson: robust customer service is not optional—it is fundamental to program success. Policymakers must design funding programs with strong support mechanisms to maximize impact and help ensure families can fully utilize available resources.
