Compensatory education explained

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

Compensatory education is extra instruction or services a school provides to make up for special education a child should have received but did not. It is a remedy, usually agreed to by the IEP team or ordered after a state complaint or due process hearing. The goal is to put the child where they would have been.

Compensatory education, often called comp ed or compensatory services, is a way to fix a past loss. If a school did not provide services that were owed under IDEA, makeup services can help close the gap that caused. The phrase does not appear as a defined term in the IDEA regulations, but the state complaint rules name compensatory services as a remedy, and hearing officers and courts order it.^[1]

This page explains how it usually works. States and hearing officers handle the details differently, and the amount in a real case depends on the facts. For your own child, an advocate or lawyer can help you weigh what to ask for. The special education rights overview explains your other rights.

When a child may be owed compensatory services

Makeup services usually come up when a school did not give a child a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Common examples:

Services in the IEP were missed, such as weeks of speech with no provider.
The school took too long to evaluate a child or to start services.
A child was removed for discipline without the services the rules require.
The IEP was so weak that the child did not make the progress the plan should have aimed for.

The FAPE explainer covers what the school owes in the first place. The guide on when the IEP is not being implemented covers how to raise missed services early.

How it can be decided

Route	Who decides	Federal rule
IEP team meeting	You and the school agree on makeup services	Team decision, with prior written notice^[2]
Mediation	You and the school sign an agreement	34 CFR 300.506^[3]
State complaint	The state orders it as a corrective action	34 CFR 300.151^[1]
Due process hearing	A hearing officer orders it	34 CFR 300.507 and 300.511^[4]

Many cases are settled at the team level. If the school agrees services were missed, ask for the plan in writing.

How the amount is worked out

There is no single federal formula. Two approaches are common, and many decisions mix them.

Hour for hour. Count the missed time and make it up. If 20 sessions of 30 minutes were missed, that is 10 hours.
Based on need. Look at where the child is now and where they would likely be with the services. The makeup plan aims to close that gap, which may take more or fewer hours than were missed.

Progress data helps either way. A child whose reading score stayed flat during the missed months shows the harm clearly. The progress report guide for parents explains how to find those numbers.

An annotated example

This example is made up. Hold it next to your own child's papers.

The IEP: Sophie, grade 2, has 30 minutes of speech therapy twice a week, which is about 8 sessions a month.

What happened: The speech provider left in October. No sessions happened from October 1 to January 31, about 17 weeks, so about 34 sessions were missed.

Note: Count from the IEP service page and a calendar. A service log helps you track sessions as they happen.

Progress report in January: Sophie's goal was to say the "s" sound correctly in 80% of words in sentences. In September she was at 40%. In January she was still at 40%.

Note: No progress during the missed months shows the loss was real, not just on paper.

The meeting in February: The team agreed Sophie missed 34 sessions, about 17 hours. It offered 17 hours of makeup speech: one extra 30-minute session a week during the school year plus 6 hours over the summer.

Note: The plan names the hours, the provider type, the schedule and an end date. Those four details make a plan easy to check.

Prior written notice: The school sent notice of the decision, which lists what was agreed.

Note: Keep this. It is your proof if makeup sessions are later missed too.

Questions you can ask the team

"How many sessions or minutes did my child miss, and what records show that?"
"What did the progress data show during that time?"
"How many hours of makeup services are you offering, and how did you decide that number?"
"Who will provide the makeup sessions, and are they qualified for this service?"
"When will the makeup sessions happen? Will they pull my child out of other classes?"
"Can some of the hours happen after school or over the summer?"
"Can you put the makeup plan in prior written notice or a written agreement?"

Things to watch for

Makeup sessions should not replace regular ones. They are added on top of the current IEP services.
Watch the schedule. Pulling a child from reading for makeup speech can create a new gap.
Ask about the deadline. A plan with no end date is hard to enforce.
Track it. Keep a simple log of each makeup session, with the date and length.

Next steps

Write down which services were missed and for how long.
Gather the IEP service page, progress reports and any emails about the missed services.
Ask for an IEP meeting to discuss makeup services, and ask for the decision in writing.
If the school says no, the state complaint guide and mediation vs due process explain your formal options.
Contact your state's Parent Training and Information Center for free help. You can find yours through the Center for Parent Information and Resources.^[5]

The compensatory services glossary entry gives a short definition you can share.

Frequently asked questions

Is compensatory education the same as extended school year?

No. Extended school year is service beyond the regular school year that some children need to keep their skills, decided as part of the IEP. Compensatory education makes up for services that were owed and missed. Makeup sessions sometimes happen in summer, but the reason is different.

Can I get money instead of makeup services?

Sometimes. The state complaint rules mention monetary reimbursement as a possible remedy, for example for services a family paid for privately. Whether it applies depends on the facts and your state's process.

Is there a deadline to ask for compensatory education?

Formal options have time limits. A state complaint must be about a violation within the past year, and a due process complaint generally within two years, unless your state sets a different limit. Ask early.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

34 CFR §300.151: Adoption of State complaint procedures, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
34 CFR §300.503: Prior notice by the public agency; content of notice, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
34 CFR §300.506: Mediation, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
34 CFR §300.507: Filing a due process complaint, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
Center for Parent Information and Resources, CPIR

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.