The Individual Income Tax Credit Program allows Arizona taxpayers to get directly involved in supporting the statewide school choice movement. Since 1997, Arizona taxpayers have been eligible to receive a 100% dollar-for-dollar tax credit against their state income tax owed by making a contribution to a School Tuition Organization like APESF. Simply put, individuals can donate or “re-direct” state income tax dollars they owe to help Arizona students attend the private school of their choice. The maximum annual tax credit for married taxpayers for the 2011 tax year is $1000 and $500 for individuals. “Taking the credit” for private education is a winning solution for everyone. How to donate >>

Eligibility

In order to receive a scholarship from APESF, student applicants must be enrolled in a “qualified Arizona K-12 private school”. A qualified school means a nongovernmental primary or secondary school, or a preschool for handicapped students, that does not discriminate based on race, color, handicap, familial status or national origin. A qualified school does not include a charter school or any program operated by a charter school.

Application Process

• All potential recipients of a scholarship must complete a Scholarship Application one time per school year to be eligible for consideration. Applications for the coming school year are released on March 1 and will remain valid through the entire school year.
• Applications are submitted to a uniform grading system developed by APESF that is based on the financial need of the family, individual merits of each student and any hardship circumstances the family is experiencing.
• Once this process is complete, the family will receive a *pre-qualification notice by email from APESF detailing the results of their application.
• The scholarship committee considers pre-qualified applications for funding on a monthly basis. Awards are subject to available funding from tax credit revenues. Recommendations from donors and schools for potential recipients of a scholarship award are also considered once the applicant has been pre-qualified.
• If a scholarship is awarded, the family and school will be notified by email. The school must verify enrollment status and outstanding tuition balance due before APESF will send the award.

Scholarship Awards

Scholarships are awarded on a monthly basis by the end of the month. Applications must be received or active in our system by the last day of the previous month to be considered. The school must verify enrollments status of the student and that their award does not exceed the published tuition due for the current school year.

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Designation vs. Recommendation

Federal tax regulations state that a contribution made for the direct or designated benefit of an individual is considered a “gift” and NOT a charitable contribution for tax purposes. This type of gift would also be disqualified from receiving tax credit treatment under the Arizona Tuition Tax Credit law. APESF will allow donors to make recommendations, NOT designations, with the understanding that the final decision to award tuition scholarships is up to sole and absolute discretion of the School Tuition Organization (APESF). Recommendations received from donors and schools in support of student applicants who have completed the financial review process and have received a pre-qualification notice from APESF will be strongly considered. However, a recommendation does not imply a guaranteed award.

Reciprocity (“Swapping”)

Reciprocity or “swapping” of any type is strictly prohibited. When two or more individuals agree to recommend each others’ child when making their tax credit contributions with the expectation that their own family members benefit through the exchange or “swap”, it violates federal tax law which states that you may not deduct a contribution from which you receive or expect to receive any benefit. If reciprocity is suspected, the donor(s) will first be notified and their recommendation(s) may not be considered. APESF further suggests that any family applying for a scholarship and also making a tax credit contribution should consider recommending either the general fund or students at a particular school and avoid individual recommendations of specific students to protect their donation’s tax treatment.

The Corporate Income Tax Credit Program was established to give parents from low to moderate income households a CHOICE in their child’s education. Our goal is to provide tuition scholarships through re-directed corporate income tax dollars to qualified students. How to donate >>

Eligibility

A student qualifies for the Corporate Tuition Tax Credit Scholarship if the following criteria are met:

• The child is entering Kindergarten in a qualified private school or the child attended a public or charter school as a full-time student for at least the first 100 days of the prior year and is transferring to a qualified private school full-time.
• The family’s income does not exceed 185% of the income limit required to qualify for reduced-price lunches under the national school lunch and child nutrition acts. See below:

For continuing eligibility, the child must receive a scholarship the first year and each year thereafter. If no scholarship is awarded during a given year, they are no longer eligible to receive assistance from the corporate program. However, they always remain eligible to receive assistance from the Individual Income Tax Credit Program.

Application Process

• All potential recipients of a scholarship must complete a Scholarship Application one time per school year to be eligible for consideration. Applications for the coming school year are released on March 1 and will remain valid through the entire school year.
• Applications are submitted to a uniform grading system developed by APESF that is based on the financial need of the family, individual merits of each student and any hardship circumstances the family is experiencing.
• Once this process is complete, the family will receive a *pre-qualification notice by email from APESF detailing the results of their application. If your application qualifies for a corporate scholarship and funding is available, APESF will contact you to send in more documentation to complete your application for corporate funds.
• The scholarship committee will award scholarships from corporate funds based on tax credit revenues available.
• If a scholarship is awarded, the family and school will be notified by email. The school must verify enrollment status and outstanding tuition balance due before APESF will send the award.

Corporate Awards

Award recipients will be notified by email if they receive a corporate scholarship. Once a child has received a corporate award, they will be eligible to receive an award each year thereafter provided there are funds available and they still fall below the income threshold.

For the 2011-2012 school year, the maximum corporate scholarship a child can receive in a Corporate Scholarship from one or multiple STO’s is $4700 for grades K-8 and $6000 for grades 9-12. These maximums grow by $100 each year.

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A.R.S §43-1184 provides a corporate income tax credit for donations made to School Tuition Organizations in order to provide tuition grants to qualified disabled or displaced students.

A qualified student means a student who has been either:

• Placed in foster care pursuant to Title 8, Chapter 5 at any time before the student graduates from high school or obtains a general equivalency diploma.
• Identified as having a disability under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or identified by a school district as a child with a disability as defined in §15-761 or a child with a disability who is eligible to receive services from a school district under §15-763.

New applicants to the program must have attended a public primary or secondary school for at least the first one hundred days of the prior academic year or qualified for the program in a previous year.

STEP 1: Get Pre-Certified with the Arizona Department of Revenue

Students who are interested in receiving a tuition grant for disabled or displaced students must first complete an Application for Eligibility with the Arizona Department of Revenue to be placed on a list of qualified students.

PLEASE NOTE: Students who qualified and received scholarships or grants from the Arizona Department of Education for the 2008/2009 school year do not need to apply for eligibility. If you want to confirm that your student is already on the qualified student list, please contact Karen Jacobs at (602) 716-6923.

STEP 2: Apply for a Grant with APESF

Please download and complete the Disabled/Displaced Scholarship Application and return to the following address with all required documentation:

Arizona Private Education Scholarship Fund
6909 E Greenway Parkway #240
Scottsdale, AZ 85254

Pursuant to A.R.S §43-1184 (L), a School Tuition Organization may provide scholarships/grants to qualified students in an amount not to exceed the cost of tuition for the student to attend a qualified school or 90% of state aid that that would otherwise be computed for the student as provided in Title 15, Chapter 9, Article 5, whichever is less.

A School Tuition Organization may award any amount of scholarship or grant up to the eligible amount allowed by statute. Please note that students are not guaranteed a scholarship or grant.

A qualified school is defined as a nongovernmental primary school, secondary school, or preschool for handicapped students. The school must be located in Arizona and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, handicap, familial status or national origin and must satisfy the requirements prescribed by law for private schools in Arizona on January 1, 2009.

For questions regarding this program, please contact us by email or call 480.699.8911.