Quick answer: An online school for Foreign Service families is an accredited U.S. school the child attends from any post, so the same school and the same transcript stay in place at every transfer. It is one of four common choices, next to an assisted or international school, a local school and boarding school. If your agency offers an education allowance, it decides what it will cover, so confirm with your post’s management or HR office before you enroll.
Families posted abroad by the State Department, an embassy, an international organization or an employer that rotates staff between countries make this choice again at every assignment. This page explains the official resources, how the State Department’s education allowance treats online schooling, and which questions to ask before you commit.
Table of Contents
What the Office of Overseas Schools does
The State Department’s Office of Overseas Schools works to provide good educational opportunities for the dependents of U.S. Government personnel stationed abroad. Regional Education Officers cover each part of the world and know the schools that U.S. citizen children attend.
The office supports a list of assisted schools, each with a yearly fact sheet. According to the Department, an assisted school is nonprofit, non-religious, nonpolitical and U.S. accredited, with a strong American-style curriculum. Generally there is one assisted school per diplomatic post. Families whose child needs a different grade range, program or setting look at the other options below.
Online school for Foreign Service families and the education allowance
The Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR) set the rules for the education allowance. Section 270 (the version effective September 21, 2025) lists four educational methods: school at post, school away from post, home study/private instruction/virtual schooling, and the special needs education allowance. Here is what the text says about the third method:
- Virtual schooling means education in an accredited program of study, delivered either live or on the student’s own schedule.
- The regulation sets a separate rate for home study, private instruction and virtual schooling.
- Posts ask for an annual plan, a way to monitor progress, a way to assess end-of-year outcomes, and graduation requirements for grades 7 to 12. For virtual schooling they ask for proof that the child is in a recognized and accredited program.
- The core curriculum named in the regulation is English/language arts, foreign language, math, science, social studies, art, music, and health and physical education.
- A new application is needed for each child each school year, or when the educational method changes.
- The provider must teach the student directly. Fees from umbrella or cover schools that do not provide instruction are not reimbursable.
Eligibility and amounts are decided by your agency, not by a school. The State Department’s own home study guidance tells families to work with the financial management officer at post, or the agency’s certifying officer, before buying a program. It adds that families from other agencies should ask their certifying official whether a similar allowance exists. The same page notes that home study is not legal in every country, so check with post management and the Community Liaison Office coordinator. Employees of international organizations and private employers follow their own employer’s education policy, which HR can explain.
Global Community Liaison Office resources
The Global Community Liaison Office (GCLO) education and youth pages cover boarding schools, home study, special needs education, college admissions, transitions from school to school and re-entry to the United States. They also list virtual learning resources and home study programs that Foreign Service families have used. The Department states that these listings are not endorsements and do not guarantee reimbursement. The education team takes questions at GCLOAskEducation@state.gov.
Issues that come with a new post every few years
Mid-year transfers
A transfer in January does not match a school calendar that starts in August or September. Ask the next school how it places a student who arrives mid-year. An online school that enrolls all year lets the child keep the same courses on the move.
A post without a suitable school
The GCLO notes that families choose home study when a post has limited educational facilities. Part-time online courses can also add a subject, such as an advanced course, next to a school at post.
One transcript through high school
Each school a student attends writes its own transcript. Four high school years at three schools mean three records to combine, and course titles differ between systems. The GCLO’s school-to-school transition page advises families to hand-carry transcripts and records, and to ask the sending school to match course titles and descriptions to standard U.S. courses. With one school for grades 9 to 12, the transcript is a single document.
Returning to a U.S. school between assignments
The DSSR says the government wants children in home study or virtual programs to be able to rejoin a U.S. school system when they return. Contact the receiving school or district early, ask how it places students from an online school, and bring the records. The GCLO also publishes Bouncing Back, a guide to re-entry for parents of Foreign Service youth.
Schooling options at post and what happens at the next transfer
| Option at post | What it is | At the next transfer | Worth checking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assisted or international school | A school at post with a U.S.-style or international program. Assisted schools meet State Department criteria. | The child changes schools. If the next post has a similar school, records move from one to the other. | Calendar, course titles, and how the new school places mid-year arrivals. |
| Local school | A school of the host country, often taught in the local language. | The child changes schools and often changes systems. | How a U.S. school will read the transcript, and whether credits convert. |
| Online school | An accredited program taken from home or another study space. | The child keeps the same school, courses and transcript. | Internet at the next post, time zone, agency allowance rules, local home study law. |
| Boarding school | A school away from post, in the U.S. or in another country. | The school stays the same while the family moves. | Allowance rules for school away from post, holiday travel, and the child’s age. |
Many families combine options. A child might attend the school at post in one assignment and take online courses at the next.
Questions to take to your post’s HR or CLO office
- Does my agency or employer offer an education allowance for home study, private instruction or virtual schooling?
- Which rate applies to my child’s grade, and what does it cover? Are tuition, books and testing fees included?
- What proof does the office need: accreditation, an annual plan, progress reports, a graduation plan?
- Do I submit the application before enrolling, and how often do I renew it?
- Does the allowance rule list foreign language or other subjects the program must include?
- Is home study legal in this country, and does the post know of local requirements?
- Can my child join school-at-post sports, clubs or music while taking online courses?
- Where is the list of programs other families at this post use?
- What happens to the allowance if we move to a post with a school that fits well?
- What records does the next post or school ask us to carry?
Where Forest Trail Academy fits
Forest Trail Academy is a private, accredited, secular online K-12 school in West Palm Beach, Florida. Courses are self-paced with certified teachers, and families can enroll any week of the year. Its military family page describes one school that keeps a student’s transcript from kindergarten through grade 12 across moves, and its expat families page describes remote proctored exams, so a student needs no testing center. The American online school page covers enrollment from outside the United States, and the apostille page explains how to request an apostille for school records that a foreign school or office asks for.
FTA cannot say whether your agency will reimburse tuition. That decision belongs to your agency, so confirm it before you enroll. You can see the high school program and the tuition rates on the school’s site.
Frequently asked questions
What are schooling options for Foreign Service kids?
The common choices are an assisted or international school at post, a local school, an online or home study program, and boarding school. Many families use more than one over a career. The GCLO education pages list resources for each.
Does the State Department education allowance cover online school?
The regulation includes a category for home study, private instruction and virtual schooling, with its own rate and documents. Your agency decides eligibility and amounts, so ask your financial management officer or certifying official before you pay for a program.
What is an assisted school?
It is a school the State Department’s Office of Overseas Schools supports. The school is nonprofit, non-religious, nonpolitical and U.S. accredited, and generally there is one at a post. The assisted schools list shows each by city.
Can a diplomat’s child finish high school online and keep one transcript?
Yes, a student who stays in one accredited online school from grade 9 receives a single transcript from that school, however many times the family moves.
What should we bring when we return to the United States?
Bring transcripts, immunization and health records, test results and, where relevant, an IEP, as the GCLO transition page lists. Contact the receiving school early to ask about its placement process.
Do corporate assignees have the same allowance?
The State Department allowance applies to its own employees, and other agencies have their own rules. Private employers set their own education benefits, so ask HR what yours covers.
Book a call with admissions to talk through records, grade placement and enrollment from your post.
