When Odyssey issued the first round of 2026-27 Utah Fits All awards on June 16 and 17, the headline number was a record: 27,560 students had applied. The number that mattered more to many Salt Lake and Tooele families came next. Odyssey said it had issued awards to over 18,700 students and placed over 8,800 on a waitlist, with another 1,000 to 2,000 awards expected in an August round. KUTV, reporting in July, put the counts at about 19,800 funded and about 7,500 waiting. The figures differ because they were taken at different moments, but the picture is the same either way: more Utah families want the scholarship than the money covers.
That gap changes how a family in Sugar House, Kearns or Stansbury Park should think about the program. Utah Fits All is not means-tested, and anyone eligible can apply. Whether a particular child is funded depends on where that child falls in a priority order written into the program's rules.
The order, step by step
Odyssey's eligibility page lists the order used when applications exceed funding:
- Returning students. A child who held the scholarship in the prior year and renews on time goes first.
- Siblings. Next come brothers and sisters of a prior-year recipient.
- Lower-income households. Then households at or below 300% of the federal poverty level.
- Everyone else. Remaining applicants are placed by random lottery.
Two things follow from that list. First, the program protects continuity. KUTV reported a renewal rate of about 90%, so most of each year's money goes to families already in the program. Second, a new applicant with no sibling in the program and an income above 300% of the poverty line sits in the lottery group, which absorbs whatever is left after the three priority groups are funded. In a year like 2026-27, that is where the waitlist came from.
Odyssey also said it could not fund every low-income family in the first 2026-27 round, and that those families get first priority in the next round. So even the third priority group was not fully served in June.
How much money there is
KUTV reported $120 million for scholarships this year and an additional $20 million for the next school year, with an average award of about $6,400. The average sits below the $8,000 private-school amount because home-based students receive $4,000 at ages 5 to 11 and $6,000 at ages 12 to 18, and the program serves many of them. A legislative report covered by KSL in September found that 14,522 students used the scholarship in 2025-26: 7,569 in private schools and 6,953 home-based.
The mix matters for Salt Lake families weighing a private school against homeschooling. The award a child receives depends on which track the family chooses, not on how fast it applies. A home-based award stretches the same pool of money further, but the priority order is identical for both tracks.
What a Salt Lake family can actually do
A family cannot buy its way up the list, but it can avoid falling down it. A few practical steps make a difference.
If your child already has the scholarship
Renew in the returning-student window. In the 2026-27 cycle that window opened on March 1 and closed on May 31. Missing it can move a child out of the first priority group. Keep the portfolio requirement current and have this year's proof of Utah residency ready: a utility bill, mortgage statement, lease or property tax record.
If an older sibling has it
Apply for the younger child in the new-student window, which ran from April 1 to May 1 for 2026-27. The sibling preference is the most direct route into the program for a second child at the same parish or Christian school.
If your household income is near 300% of poverty
Make sure the application documents income correctly. That threshold separates the third priority group from the lottery, and for a large Salt Lake Valley family it can sit at a higher dollar figure than parents expect. Odyssey's own page is the place to check how it measures income.
If you are in the lottery group
Have a plan B before you enroll. Ask the school about its own aid and payment plans, and if your child has an IEP, compare the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship, which is a separate program with its own funding. A child cannot hold both, but a family on the Utah Fits All waitlist is free to pursue Carson Smith instead.
Timing for 2027-28
Odyssey has not published 2027-28 dates. The 2026-27 pattern ran like this: returning students opened March 1, new students applied April 1 to May 1, school selection was due June 15, awards went out June 16, and families had until June 30 to accept. Funding was scheduled for July 15 but actually reached accounts on August 20, 2026. A Salt Lake family should expect something similar, and should watch for the official calendar rather than assume it.
Schools have their own window too. Private schools applied to Odyssey for approval between May 1 and June 1 for 2026-27. If the school you want is not on the approved list now, ask whether it plans to apply, because a school that is not approved by the time you select cannot receive the $8,000 private-school amount.
Reading the waitlist calmly
An 8,800-student waitlist sounds alarming, but most of those children are new applicants in the lottery group, and many families on it will have other options: school aid, a sibling's award next year, or a Carson Smith scholarship. The useful question is not whether the waitlist is long, but which priority group your child is in and what you will do if the lottery does not come through.
Our Salt Lake guide to Utah Fits All lists the 2026-27 amounts, the local schools on the approved list and the spending rules. The calculator sets the $8,000 award against a school's tuition so you can see the gap you would need to cover in either case.