Enacted 2011 • Launched 2013 • Tax-Credit Scholarship
Oklahoma provides tax credits for donations to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs),
nonprofits that must spend a portion of their expenditures on private school scholarships for
low-income students in an amount equal to or greater than the percentage of low-income
students in the state. The allowable tax credit is 50 percent of the amount of contributions
made during a taxable year, up to $1,000 for single individuals, $2,000 for married couples,
and $100,000 for corporations. The program is capped at $5 million, of which $3.5 million is
dedicated to private school scholarships with a separate $1.5 million in tax credits available for
donations made to organizations that distribute “educational improvement grants” to public
schools. There are caps on the individual and corporate tax credits of $1.75 million per year a
piece. If donations exceed the statewide cap in a given year, the Oklahoma Tax Commission
will allocate the tax credits to individuals (or corporations) on a pro-rata basis. If individual
donations fail to meet the $1,750,000 cap while corporate donations exceed the cap, the unused
individual credits can be allocated to corporations (and to a separate tax credit for public
school improvement grants), and vice versa.
Latest Stats
- Students participating: n/a
- Schools participating: n/a
- Scholarship organizations: n/a
- Average scholarship value: n/a
Program Details
Maximum scholarship value as a percentage of
Oklahoma’s total per-student spending ($7,929)
Student Funding
For most students, the scholarship value is worth up to $5,000, or 80 percent of the average
per-pupil expenditure in the public school district, whichever is greater. For students with
special needs who attended a public school with an Individualized Education Program (IEP),
the scholarship is worth up to $25,000.
Student Eligibility
Students are eligible if they live in families with incomes up to 300 percent of the free and
reduced-price lunch program ($127,928 for a family of four in 2013), or attend or live in the
attendance zone of a public school designated as in need of improvement. Once a student has
received a scholarship, that student and his or her siblings remain eligible until high school
graduation or age 21.
Legal Developments
On May 16, 2011, Gov. Mary Fallin signed Senate Bill 969, known as the Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship Act. No legal challenges have been filed against the program.
Rules & Regulations
- Income Limit: 300% x FRL
- Geographic Limit: Statewide
- Enrollment Cap: None
- Scholarship Cap: Conditional
- Testing Mandates: None
- Credit Value: 50%
- Credit Cap: Yes
- Program Cap: $3.5 million
Governing Statutes
Section 2357.206 of Title 68
Friedman Contact
Robbie Rhinesmith | robbie@edchoice.org
Additional Links
Senate Bill 969 – the full text of which is available at http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=SB969 – creates a new Section 2357.206 of Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
