High-quality tutoring has emerged as an important post-pandemic strategy for helping struggling students in public schools. Research finds that tutoring often results in substantial additional learning gains when delivered during the school day, in small groups with the same tutors and multiple times a week for at least 10 weeks.
But this often comes with a substantial price tag — depending on the model and staffing approach, costs can range from $1,200 to $2,500 per student per year. During the pandemic, many districts relied on federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to launch or expand tutoring programs, but these have largely expired.
Fortunately, states and school districts have access to other funding streams, which can be combined through “blending” and “braiding” to cover the costs of tutoring when a single source is insufficient.
Federal Funding
Though federal funding faced significant uncertainty during the Fiscal Year 2026 budget process, Congress passed a spending package that sustains many of these funding streams, at least for the coming year.
School districts may use Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I, part A funds — federal aid intended to close achievement gaps for low-income students — for schoolwide or targeted tutoring programs, depending on a school’s poverty level. ESEA Title II, part A funds, which support the recruitment, training and retention of effective educators, can be used to train staff as tutors and provide stipends to those who take on this additional responsibility. ESEA Title IV, parts A and B fund student support, academic enrichment and afterschool programs, which includes tutoring.
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