Tax Credit for Low-Income Students Scholarship Program

Children are eligible to receive scholarships if their family income does not exceed 100% of the Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRL) program ($57,720 for a family of four in 2024-2025). Children must be between ages 5 and 21 to participate. In addition, children who are eight or older must have been enrolled in any public school the previous school year. _(Last updated July 17, 2024)_

Qualifying expenses include tuition, fees, expenses, and transportation if provided by a qualifying school. _(Last updated July 17, 2024)_

Private donors fund this program by donating to SGOs and receiving tax credits for their donation, up to certain limits. Each SGO determines the amount of the scholarships it distributes, but no scholarship amount can exceed the cost of tuition, fees, expenses, and transportation if provided by a qualifying school. The maximum scholarship amount is $8,000. The average scholarship size is roughly about a quarter of the average expenditure per student at Kansas’s district schools, but the cap on scholarship values is significantly higher. Tax credits are worth only 75% of the value of the contributions to SGOs. Total credits claimed cannot exceed $10 million, meaning roughly 3,100 students can participate, or less than 1% of Kansas’ K–12 student population. _(Last updated July 17, 2024)_

No legal challenges have been filed against this program. _(Last updated February 27, 2023)_