Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship (JPSN)

Last verified: October 2026

How much does the Jon Peterson Scholarship pay a Cleveland-area student in 2026-27?

DEW sorts children into six funding categories by the primary disability on the Evaluation Team Report. Category 1, speech or language, pays $10,045. Category 2, which covers specific learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities and minor health impairments, pays $13,069. Category 3 (hearing impaired, emotional disturbance) pays $20,069; category 4 (vision impaired, major health impairment) $24,080; category 5 (orthopedic, multi-handicapped) $29,750; and category 6 (autism, traumatic brain injury, hearing and vision impaired) $34,000.

Full amounts assume a full year in the program. A category 1 award pays for speech and language services only, not tuition.

Does a CMSD student use Jon Peterson or the Cleveland Scholarship?

A city child with an IEP can choose the Jon Peterson Scholarship, which is statewide and usually worth far more than the $6,166 or $8,408 voucher. The IEP must come from the district of residence, so a Cleveland family asks CMSD for the evaluation and a suburban family asks its own district, even when the child already attends a private school.

Can a preschooler with an IEP use the Jon Peterson Scholarship?

Yes. Three- and four-year-olds became eligible on September 30, 2025, as long as the evaluation and IEP place them in one of the federal IDEA disability categories. Ohio also lets a team identify developmental delay through age 9, and DEW maps each area of delay to a funding category.

Which providers can a Jon Peterson family choose in Northeast Ohio?

Three kinds: chartered nonpublic schools, non-chartered nonpublic schools and approved business providers. With a business provider the parent home-educates and the scholarship pays for the IEP services. Enroll with the provider first; it files the application with you.

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