Enacted 2012 • Launching in 2013 • Tax-Credit Scholarship
New Hampshire will offer tax credits for corporate donations to nonprofits that provide
private school scholarships. Available tax credits will be capped at $3.4 million in the first year,
and $5.1 million in the second year. That cap will increase by 25 percent per year thereafter if
usage is above 80 percent.
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
New Hampshire’s total per-student spending ($13,072)
Student Funding
Scholarships’ average value must not exceed $2,500, except for special education students,
whose scholarships cannot be less than $4,375. That amount is to be updated yearly by the
Consumer Price Index. For homeschoolers, the scholarship is limited to 25 percent of the
program’s average scholarship, or $625.
Student Eligibility
Students ages five to 20 are eligible if they are attending public school (including a charter
school), are homeschooled, or received a scholarship the previous year. Students must come
from households where family income is less than 300 percent of the federal poverty line
($69,150 for a family of four in 2013).
Legal Developments
No legal challenges have been filed against the program.
Rules & Regulations
Scholarship organizations must be 501(c)(3) organizations approved by the department of revenue administration. Scholarship organizations must comply with state and federal antidiscrimination and privacy laws. Organizations must not restrict scholarships to a specific school or students. An organization’s owner cannot also operate a private school. A maximum of 10 percent of contributions can be used for administrative expenses.
Forty percent of an organization’s scholarships must go to students eligible for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program.
Organizations must provide the department with identifying information for scholarship students. Organizations must file an official report by December 1 of each year; the report shall contain information including the number of scholarships, the percentage of free and reduced-price lunch children, the dollar amount for scholarships, the schools involved, and the results of an annual satisfaction survey from at least 90 percent of the scholarship parents.
Governing Statutes
New Hampshire Revised Statutes, Chapter 77-G (new).
Friedman Contact
Robbie Rhinesmith | robbie@edchoice.org
Additional Links
New Hampshire House Bill 1607 (2012), which created the tax-credit scholarship, is available here: http://legiscan.com/gaits/text/654496.
