Getting Started with UFA and Odyssey
What the wallet is, how the money works, and where to begin.
The wallet
Every approved UFA student gets a digital wallet inside Odyssey. It tracks three kinds of activity: Marketplace purchases, tuition payments, and reimbursement requests. All of your spending options live under that student's wallet, and funds cannot be pooled or transferred between siblings — each student's balance is its own.
There are three ways to spend the money:
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Marketplace | Buy pre-approved products and services directly through Odyssey. No review, no paying out of pocket first. |
| Tuition payments | Paid directly to approved private schools through Odyssey. |
| Reimbursement | You pay out of pocket for an eligible purchase made outside the Marketplace, then request the money back. |
Odyssey pushes the Marketplace first for a reason: it's pre-approved, so there's no chance of a denial. Reimbursement is for the things you can't get there — a tutor, a local class, a specific curriculum — and it's where almost every problem in this guidebook happens. Use the Marketplace when the thing you need is on it.
The program year
UFA runs on a fixed annual calendar, July 1 through June 30. Applications, awards, and the reimbursement deadline all land on specific dates that Odyssey republishes every year. The pattern repeats even when the exact day moves:
| Roughly when | What happens |
|---|---|
| March–May | Applications open (returning students first, then new students) and close. |
| Mid-June | School selection is due; awards are issued shortly after. |
| Late June | Award acceptance deadline. The program year ends June 30. |
| July 1 | New program year begins; the next year's funding is issued a couple weeks later. |
| Last day of May | Deadline to submit reimbursement requests for the year that's ending. Miss it and that request cannot be appealed — see what to do if rejected. |
Always check the current year's exact dates on your own Odyssey dashboard or the tracked handbook article below — the day-of-month shifts slightly year to year, but the shape doesn't.
First things to do
- Add your bank account under Profile in Odyssey, before you need it — see requesting a reimbursement.
- Decide how you're going to track spending before you start buying things. See tracking your expenses.
- When you're not sure what category something falls under, check choosing a category before you submit, not after it's denied.
Sources for this guide
-
Utah Fits All (UFA) Spending and Reimbursement Guide
-
Utah Fits All Program Year Timeline