Our mission at APESF is to serve Arizona families who desire to provide an effective and sustainable solutions for their children’s education. We serve families by providing tuition scholarships for students in grades K-12 attending private schools in the state of Arizona. As a certified School Tuition Organization (STO), APESF gives parents the power to choose the best educational environment for their child without it being a financial burden on the family. It has been amazing to hear the stories of success for students and families once they have been placed in a better learning environment. The difficult part about private education is cost, this is why we do what we do. We award scholarships to families making the jump into a private school.
APESF awards four different types of scholarships to students who qualify: Original, Overflow, Low-Income and Disabled/Displaced (DD). To be considered for scholarships, a student must have a new application on file each school year. These scholarships are made possible by the generous support of individuals and corporations willing to make the tax credit donation. If you are interested in donating, you can do it here.
We know that it is difficult to understand the different types of scholarships and if your student(s) are eligible for more, so we wanted to break it down for our families and donors.
SCHOLARSHIPS:
ORIGINAL:
To be eligible for Original Scholarships, students must have a completed application on file and meet ONE of the following:
– Be enrolled in an APESF Partner School (Kindergarten through 12 grade)
– Be a Preschool student with disabilities (documentation required)
Individual Donation Maximums for Original:
– Married Filing Jointly: $1,110
– Single/Married Filing Separately: $555
*There is no scholarship cap for Original eligible students
OVERFLOW (also known as Plus or Switcher):
To be eligible, students must meet ONE of the following:
– Kindergarten at an APESF Partner School
– Arizona public or charter school transfer student with a minimum of 90 days or full semester at the previous school (documentation required) (LINK TO DOC PAGE)
– Previous Overflow/Low-Income/Disabled-Displaced award recipient and has continued to stay enrolled in private School
– Is a dependent of a member of the US Armed Forces who is stationed in Arizona under military orders (documentation required)
– A Pre-School student (at least 3 years old) with a disability (documentation required)
Individual Donation Maximums for Overflow:
– Married Filing Jointly: $1,103
– Single/Married Filing Separately: $552
*There is no scholarship cap for Overflow eligible students
When a donation is made, an individual donor is given the opportunity to recommend a school or student recipient. Recommendations are not required in order to receive Original/Overflow scholarships, but your chances greatly increase if you are able to get your friends, family, coworkers or neighbors to take the tax credit and recommend your student(s).
LOW-INCOME CORPORATE:
To be eligible for Low-Income, families must meet the Low-Income guidelines financial limit and meet ONE of the following:
– Kindergarten at an APESF Partner School
– Arizona public or charter school transfer student with a minimum of 90 days or full semester at the previous school (documentation required)
– Previous Original/Overflow/Low-Income/Disabled-Displaced award recipient and has continued to stay enrolled in private School
– Is a dependent of a member of the US Armed Forces who is stationed in Arizona under military orders (documentation required)
– A Pre-School student (at least 3 years old) with a disability (documentation required)
*The scholarship max for students in K-8 grade is $5,400 in Low-Income eligible students
*The scholarship max for students in 9-12 grade is $6,700 in Low-Income eligible students
**Please note, you may receive the maximum low-income scholarships from multiple STO’s.
DISABLED/DISPLACED CORPORATE:
To be eligible for DD Scholarships, students must have a completed application on file and meet ONE of the following:
– Students who are (or have been) placed in the Arizona state foster care system (documentation required and will be verified with the Arizona Department of Economic Security)
– Student has a MET, IEP or 504 plan from an Arizona public or charter school (documentation required)
*The scholarship cap is limited to 90% of state aid or cost of tuition, whichever is less for Disabled/Displaced (DD) eligible students.
**Please note, a student is only eligible to receive the full amount combined from STO’s.
The Corporate awards are never guaranteed year over year but if your student is eligible, they will be considered. If you know of a corporation that would like to donate and recommend your school, just email our staff member, Ali at ali@apesf.org.
ARS 43-1089 NOTICE
A school tuition organization cannot award, restrict or reserve scholarships solely on the basis of donor recommendation. A taxpayer may not claim a tax credit if the taxpayer agrees to swap donations with another taxpayer to benefit either taxpayer’s own dependent.
