Tax Credit Scholarships

Explainer

How States Use Tax Credits to Fund Private School Choice: An Explainer
Twenty-one states have programs that give tax credits for donations to organizations that grant private-school scholarships.
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
School Choice & Charters Opinion The School Choice Landscape Is Shifting
What could two Supreme Court rulings—one recent and one impending—mean for educators and parents?
Rick Hess, June 10, 2025
8 min read
A kindergarten student raises her hand in a dual-language immersion class.
A kindergarten student raises her hand in a dual-language immersion class. Among other changes, President Donald Trump's fiscal 2026 budget would end dedicated federal funding for supplemental services for English learners.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Education Funding The Trump Budget for K-12 Schools: 5 Key Takeaways
The administration wants to cut roughly $7 billion in annual K-12 funding. Much of it supports vulnerable students.
Mark Lieberman, June 9, 2025
6 min read
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the state legislature Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn.
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the state legislature Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. While a number of states, including Tennessee, have passed new programs funding private school tuition in recent years, the first major federal foray into private school choice is now making its way through Congress.
George Walker IV/AP
School Choice & Charters What to Know About the Private School Choice Program Moving Through Congress
A new federal program would offer up to $5 billion in tax credits a year to fuel private school attendance nationwide.
Mark Lieberman, May 22, 2025
10 min read
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School Choice & Charters Private School Choice Will Keep Expanding in 2025. Here's Where and How
The conditions are ripe in at least a dozen states for proposals to invest public dollars in private educational options for families.
Mark Lieberman, January 10, 2025
12 min read
President Donald Trump listens during a "National Dialogue on Safely Reopening America's Schools," event in the East Room of the White House, on July 7, 2020, in Washington.
President Donald Trump listens during a "National Dialogue on Safely Reopening America's Schools," event in the East Room of the White House on July 7, 2020, in Washington. He returns to power with more momentum than ever behind policies that allow public dollars to pay for private school education.
Alex Brandon/AP
Federal What a National School Choice Program Under President Trump Might Look Like
School choice advocates—and detractors—see a second Trump term as the biggest opportunity in decades for choice at the federal level.
Alyson Klein, November 20, 2024
8 min read
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Collage via iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters Private School Choice: What the Research Says
Private school choice programs are proliferating as debates continue about their effects on low-income students and public schools.
Mark Lieberman, October 10, 2024
7 min read
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School Choice & Charters States Are Spending Billions on Private School Choice. But Is It Truly Universal?
More than half a million students in eight states last school year took advantage of private school choice open to all students.
Mark Lieberman, October 8, 2024
7 min read
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Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva
Federal Project 2025 and GOP Aim for Universal School Choice. What Would That Look Like?
Most ambitious private school choice policies have happened at the state level. How would it take shape at the federal level?
Libby Stanford, August 19, 2024
8 min read
School Choice & Charters Video Private School Choice: A Video Explainer
We're tracking the proliferation of school choice policies around the country. Here's how to get up to speed.
2 min read
School Choice & Charters Tracker Which States Have Private School Choice?
Education savings accounts, voucher, and tax-credit scholarships are growing. This tracker keeps tabs on them so you don't have to.
4 min read
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School Choice & Charters As Private School Choice Grows, Critics Push for More Guardrails
Calls are growing for more scrutiny over where state funds for private school choice go and how students are faring in the classroom.
Mark Lieberman, January 16, 2024
7 min read
Karl, age 5, stands with his dad, Patrick Bittorf, on Nov. 10, 2023, as they join faculty members, students, parents and supporters at a news conference at Chicago Hope Academy to try to save the Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship program.
Karl, age 5, stands with his dad, Patrick Bittorf, on Nov. 10, 2023, as they join faculty members, students, parents, and supporters at a news conference at Chicago Hope Academy to try to save the Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship program.
Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via TNS
School Choice & Charters Families Lament, Public School Advocates Celebrate End of Controversial Scholarship Tax Credit
The Illinois program prompted fierce debate over the merits of what some equate to a politically volatile school choice voucher program.
Jeremy Gorner, Dan Petrella, and Alysa Guffey, Chicago Tribune, November 14, 2023
8 min read
A parent and child looking at 2 different schools
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School Choice & Charters 6 More States Will Soon Let Almost All Students Attend Private School With Public Money
So far this year, 14 states passed laws and lawmakers in 42 states introduced bills to expand private school choice.
Libby Stanford, June 15, 2023
7 min read
Artistic image of multiple paths leading to a school building.
Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva
School Choice & Charters GOP Lawmakers Tout Choice as a Way Out of Failing Schools
Republicans in the U.S. House are using their majority to push for policies that would send public funds to private schools.
Libby Stanford, April 18, 2023
4 min read