Alabama

Education Scholarship Program

  • Tax-Credit Scholarship
  • Enacted 2013
  • Launched 2013

Alabama’s Education Scholarship Program is a tax-credit scholarship, which allows taxpayers who donate to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations to receive tax credits for their contributions. Learn more about the program on this page, including eligibility, funding, regulations, legal history and more.

We do not administer this program.

  • 2,611

    Scholarships Awarded (2021–22)

  • 33%

    of Families with Children Income-eligible Statewide

  • 5

    Scholarship Organizations Awarding Scholarships (2021–22)

  • 126

    Schools Participating (2020–21)

  • $6,117

    Average Scholarship Value (2021–22)

  • 60%

    Value as a Percentage of Public School Per-student Spending

Alabama’s Education Scholarship Program Participation

Students Participating
Calendar Year/School Year

Student Funding

Scholarship amounts are determined by SGOs. Scholarships are capped at the lesser of the private school tuition and fees or $6,000 in grades K–5, $8,000 in grades 5–8 and $10,000 in grades 9–12.

(Last updated January 11, 2023) 

Student Eligibility

Children are eligible to receive scholarships if their families qualify for the federal free and reduced-price lunch (FRL) program ($51,338 for a family of four in 2022–23), which is 185 percent of the federal poverty level. Also, qualifying students must be younger than 19 years of age. Once a student receives a scholarship, the family’s income may not exceed 275 percent of the federal poverty level ($76,313 for a family of four in 2022–23). Public and private school students assigned to failing schools receive first priority for scholarships. Alabama defines a public school as failing if it meets one or more of the following requirements: 1) The school is designated as a failing school by the state Superintendent of Education, or 2) the school does not exclusively serve a special population of students and is listed in the lowest 6 percent of public K–12 schools on the state standardized assessment in reading and math. If an SGO has scholarship funds unaccounted for on July 31 of each year, scholarships may be made available to eligible students in public school, regardless of whether or not their assigned public school is considered failing. No more than a quarter of first-time recipients may have already been enrolled in a private school the previous year. 

(Last updated January 11, 2023) 

EdChoice Expert Feedback

Alabama’s tax-credit scholarship program helps thousands of students access schools that are the right fit for them, but policymakers could do more to expand educational opportunity.

Eligibility for the scholarships is limited to 185 percent of the federal poverty line. Roughly one-third of Alabama students are eligible for a scholarship and less than 1 percent of students statewide actually use a scholarship. The average scholarship size is about $6,100, which is about 60 percent of the average expenditure per student at Alabama’s district schools, but the cap on scholarship values is somewhat higher ($6,000 in grades K–5, $8,000 in grades 5–8 and $10,000 in grades 9–12). Tax credits are worth 100 percent of the value of the contributions to scholarship

In order to expand access to educational choice, Alabama policymakers should dramatically increase the available tax credits and expand eligibility to all students (prioritizing scholarships based on need). The program could also be converted into an education savings account to ensure that all students have access to the education that’s the right fit for them, whether private school or a customized course of education.

Additionally, Alabama’s scholarship program has some unnecessary and counterproductive regulations. The program was amended in 2015 to prohibit SGOs from accepting donations intended for a specific school—for example, a school of a particular faith or particular learning style. The exclusion of mission-based scholarship organizations is an error that Alabama should reverse. Additionally, the program has a bifurcated process for distributing scholarships based on the performance of a student’s assigned district school that can be difficult for families, scholarship organizations, and schools to navigate. The state should consider dropping the “failing” school provision altogether to bring clarity to the application process.

(Last updated January 11, 2023) 

Rules and Regulations

  • Income Limit: 100 percent x FRL 
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: Yes, with exceptions Geographic Limit: Statewide 
  • Enrollment Cap: None 
  • Scholarship Cap: $6,000 (K–5), $8,000 (6–8), $10,000 (9–12) 
  • Testing Mandates:  State test or  Nationally norm-referenced tests 
  • Credit Value: 100% 
  • Per Donor Credit Cap: 100% liability up to $100,000 (individual) / 100% liability (business)
  • Total Tax Credit Cap: $30 million 

 

SGO Requirements: 

  • Use at least 95 percent of contributions for scholarships 
  • Conduct criminal background checks on all employees and board members 
  • Make scholarships portable to any qualifying school 
  • Ensure at least 75 percent of first-time scholarship recipients were not enrolled in a private school during the previous year 
  • Submit annually to the state: 
  • Data on accepted contributions 
  • Data on scholarships awarded and funded, including the amount awarded to students assigned to attend a failing school and the percentage of first-time scholarship recipients who were enrolled in a public school the previous year 
  • Financial audit performed by a certified public accountant 

(Last updated January 11, 2023) 

Governing Statutes

Ala. Code §§ 16-6D 1 through 9 and 40-2A-7(a)(5)

(Last updated January 11, 2023) 

Education Scholarship Program State Groups

That Support School Choice

There are several organizations that the Alabama Department of Revenue has approved to give students private school scholarships.