Solutions · ESA Programs
Theodore is a purpose-built, white-labeled education funding platform for K–12 — cloud-based, secure, program-isolated platform architecture, configured to the exact legislation or rules of your program. State ESAs, Tax Credit Scholarships, microgrants, and managed spending programs. Every dollar. Every stakeholder. Every step of the funding lifecycle.
Intake in one system. Eligibility in another. Payments through a third. Reporting in spreadsheets. Every seam is a place families, education providers, and staff lose time.
Application portals, eligibility databases, reimbursement systems, payment processors, and reporting exports — each from a different vendor, none designed for ESAs specifically.
One logo on the application, another on the portal, a third on the card. Trust erodes when the program looks like a stack of unrelated services.
When data lives in five systems, oversight reporting becomes a quarterly project instead of a real-time view. Audit cycles consume program staff capacity.
The Theodore Platform
Our Theodore platform is purpose-built for education funding — not retrofitted from generic spend management. Every capability below is configured per program.
Inputs
Mobile-first, multi-step applications designed for the way families actually apply.
Rule engine
A proprietary ML system built on deontic reasoning — the logic of permissions, obligations, and prohibitions.
Outputs
Each student gets a wallet with a real-time balance, subject to program rules.
Disbursement
Funds are disbursed through four paths: direct ACH, Pay Now, reimbursement, and TheoPay™.*
Reporting
Reporting built around the questions agencies actually get asked.
Controls
Role-based access controls so each user sees and does only what their role permits.
Two Ways to Deploy Theodore
Every state ESA program is different. Some agencies deploy Theodore as software and run it with their own staff. Others want implementation and ongoing operational support.
Your agency runs the program. Theodore is the platform — configured to the exact legislation or rules of your program, deployed to your custom domain.
Best fit when: your agency has program staff and wants direct control over day-to-day operations.
For agencies that want more than a platform license, our U.S.-based team can partner on implementation and ongoing operations.
Best fit when: your agency wants to launch quickly or scale operations without expanding headcount.
Theodore deploys white-labeled to your custom domain with SSL configured. Families, education providers, and administrators interact with your program under your brand, your URL, and your hometown presence — not a generic platform URL.
Families and education providers access the program under your URL — not a generic platform URL.
Configure the platform's logo, color palette, and typography per tenant. Token-based theming — not just a logo upload.
Family, provider, and administrative experiences render in your visual system, so the program reads as yours from the first touchpoint.
Theodore powers every workflow. Your program's hometown identity is preserved.
Every state ESA program is different. The platform adapts to your statute, your allowable use list, your brand, your workflow.
The exact legislation or rules of your program — eligibility logic, allowable use, vendor requirements — configured into the rule engine.
Custom domain with SSL, plus per-tenant brand tokens — logo, colors, type — configured to your program's visual system.
Intake, eligibility, education provider onboarding, payments, and reporting go live together — or in the sequence your timeline requires.
Program staff manage day-to-day operations. Oversight bodies pull real-time reports. Auditors receive evidence on demand.
A 30-minute walkthrough of the platform — the rule engine, the disbursement paths, the reporting layer, and how the exact legislation or rules of your program would be configured.