CHARLESTON, W.Va. (The Hinton News) – State Treasurer Larry Pack, who serves as Chairman of the Hope Scholarship Board, today announced new technology improvements to the Hope Scholarship Program have increased productivity for processing TheoPay orders by 42 percent as families begin utilizing scholarship funds for the 2026-2027 school year. As part of the new TheoPay Self-Serve process, artificial intelligence technology reviews eligible orders under $75, allowing families to more quickly access approved educational items while increasing the program’s overall processing capacity.
“The Hope Scholarship Program continues to grow rapidly, and it’s important that the technology supporting the program scale with it,” Treasurer Pack said. “By embracing artificial intelligence and regularly reviewing the program with Student First Technologies, we can find smarter, more efficient ways to serve families. Thanks to these efforts, our team has processed thousands more orders while giving parents greater flexibility and faster access to the educational resources their children need.”
“This is exactly the kind of innovation we should pursue across state government. By using technology to improve efficiency and reduce processing times, we can deliver a better experience for the people we serve. It is time for all agencies to move at the speed of business, not bureaucracy.”
From July 1 through August 24, the Hope Scholarship Program completed 18,647 TheoPay orders, an increase of nearly 87 percent compared to the 9,974 orders completed during the same period last year.
Of the 18,647 TheoPay orders approved and completed since July 1, 10,769 were processed through TheoPay Fulfillment. An additional 7,878 orders were completed through the new TheoPay Self-Serve option between August 10 and August 24. The Self-Serve technology has increased TheoPay order productivity by 42 percent.
The Hope Scholarship Program is also utilizing artificial intelligence technology to assist with identifying eligible educational products. To date, the technology has scanned more than 125,000 eligible items.
“TheoPay allows Hope Scholarship families to purchase qualifying educational items through approved external websites,” Hope Scholarship Executive Director Michelle Penaloza said. “The addition of the TheoPay Self-Serve option provides parents an opportunity to work directly with the designed artificial intelligence technology to identify Hope Scholarship eligible expenses. The use of this technology has increased the program’s overall efficiency and provides more direct access to educational resources than any other Educational Savings Account program in the nation.”
The technology improvements come as the Hope Scholarship Program experiences significant growth following expanded eligibility for the 2026-2027 school year. More than 25,000 approved Hope Scholarship students received their first quarterly funding this month.
For more information about the Hope Scholarship or to apply to the program, visit www.HopeScholarshipWV.gov.
