Student First Technologies Celebrates West Virginia’s Hope Scholarship Success and TheoPay’s Role in Educational Choice

Program’s annual report highlights record growth and TheoPay’s role in providing families with an open marketplace for educational purchases

CHARLESTON, WV, UNITED STATES, October 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Student First Technologies, the technology provider powering West Virginia’s Hope Scholarship Program, today celebrated the program’s continued growth and strong parent satisfaction following the release of the 2025-2026 Hope Scholarship Annual Report by West Virginia State Treasurer Larry Pack, who serves as Chairman of the Hope Scholarship Board.

The report highlights the program’s growing impact in expanding educational opportunities for West Virginia families, with 14,486 students receiving Hope Scholarships during the 2025-2026 school year, an increase of nearly 38% from the previous year. Among the report’s most notable findings, 96% of families who completed the annual Hope Scholarship Parent Satisfaction Survey stated they were satisfied with the program. Additionally, 97% of scholarship recipients had satisfactory academic progress documented.

“The continued growth of the Hope Scholarship Program demonstrates the importance of giving families the flexibility to choose educational opportunities that best meet their children’s individual needs,” said Forrest Fowler, CEO of Student First Technologies. “We’re proud to provide the technology that helps make that choice possible and supports families as they put their scholarship funds to work. The strong parent satisfaction reported this year is encouraging evidence of the value families place on having greater control over their children’s education.”

Student First Technologies supports the Hope Scholarship Program through its technology platform, programmatic services, and dedicated customer support, helping families navigate the process of purchasing eligible educational goods and services using their scholarship funds. The annual report specifically highlights TheoPay’s distinctive approach to educational purchasing. Unlike many education savings account programs that rely on a closed marketplace of preapproved products offered at fixed prices, the Hope Scholarship Program enables families to use their scholarship funds to buy education-related items on any online checkout page—but only for eligible purchases—using TheoPay’s technology.

The open-marketplace model is designed to give families greater flexibility and choice while maintaining safeguards to ensure purchases comply with program requirements. TheoPay uses a proprietary machine-learning model trained on program-specific rules to conduct an eligibility review of items placed in a family’s shopping cart before an online purchase is made. Once items in the cart are cleared, a one-time-use debit card is issued for that specific purchase, allowing families to complete their checkout normally.

“Technology should make educational choice easier for families, not limit their options,” said Fowler. “TheoPay was designed to combine the flexibility of an open marketplace with a thoughtful review process that helps families access eligible educational resources. We continue to focus on making the experience more accessible, convenient and responsive to the needs of students and parents.”

The 2025-2026 annual report underscores the breadth of the Hope Scholarship Program, with recipients representing all 55 West Virginia counties. The program’s continued expansion reflects growing demand for educational flexibility and individualized learning opportunities. For Student First Technologies, supporting that growth means continuing to provide reliable technology and operational processes that help families easily use their scholarship funds for qualifying educational expenses.

As West Virginia builds on the program’s momentum, Student First Technologies remains focused on supporting the infrastructure behind the Hope Scholarship Program and helping families access the educational resources that best fit their children’s needs.

To learn more about the Hope Scholarship Program, visit HopeScholarshipWV.gov.

About Student First Technologies
Student First Technologies is a financial technology company on the forefront of building and implementing education funding programs nationwide. SFT helps administer Tax Credit Scholarships, Education Savings Accounts, and Microgrants for scholarship granting organizations, state agencies, nonprofits, and schools nationwide. With more than a decade of experience expanding school choice, the company's end-to-end platform is designed to give partners the security, accountability, and ease of use they need to administer their programs. SFT has helped more than 300,000 students with access to over $1.3 billion in education funding. To learn more about Student First Technologies and explore its solutions, visit www.studentfirsttech.com.

Student First Technologies is a financial technology company, not an FDIC insured depository institution. Banking services provided by Bangor Savings Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC insurance coverage protects against the failure of an FDIC insured depository institution. Pass through FDIC insurance coverage is subject to certain conditions.

The Student First Technologies Mastercard^® Debit Card is issued by Bangor Savings Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circle design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. Spend anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

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