Scholarship amounts are determined by SSOs, capped only by the average state and local expenditures per child for public elementary and secondary education in the entire state. For 2018, scholarships are capped at $9,817.

All public school students are eligible if they attended a public school for at least six weeks immediately prior to receiving a scholarship, as are students who are enrolling in prekindergarten, kindergarten or first grade. Eligibility continues until a student graduates, reaches age 20 or returns to public school. SSOs may set their own additional eligibility guidelines.

Georgia’s tax-credit scholarship program has the opportunity to be one of the most expansive, successful programs in the country, as there are no arbitrary eligibility requirements. Unfortunately, its cap on available tax credits limits the number of scholarships to less than 3 percent of students statewide. Raising the cap substantially and adding a strong automatic escalator of the cap as contributions rise to meet demand would be an appropriate improvement, given the strong demand for scholarships and the impressive generosity of individual donors in Georgia. The program does benefit from a generous allowance on the size of individual scholarships, which can equal the average funding amount per student in Georgia public schools. Moreover, the program requires that schools be physically located in the state, obey nondiscrimination laws and satisfy the normal requirements to be a licensed private school in Georgia, but otherwise avoids unnecessary regulations.

• Income Limit: None
• Prior Year Public School Requirement: Yes
• Geographic Limit: Statewide
• Enrollment Cap: None
• Scholarship Cap: $9,817 (2018)
• Testing Mandates: None
• Credit Value: 100 percent
• Total Credit Cap: $1,000 for individuals, $2,500 for married couples, 75 percent of state liability for businesses
• Budget Cap: $58 million (increases to $100 million in 2019)

SSO Requirements:

• Use at least 90 percent of contributions for scholarships
• Make scholarships available for more than one school
• Have an independent board of directors
• Ensure donors cannot designate their donation to any particular individual student
• Submit annually to the state:
  • Data on accepted contributions and tax credits approved
  • Independent review of financial statements by a certified public accountant
  • Total number of students and total dollar value of scholarships awarded each year
  • Average scholarship amount by Federal Poverty Level brackets
• Publicly disclose annually:
  • Total number of scholarships approved
  • Total number and amount of donations received
  • Average household income of scholarship recipients

O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2A-1 through 7 and 48-7-29.16

The initial lawsuit, filed in April 2014 by four Georgia residents backed by the Southern Education Foundation, alleged that the tax credit scholarship program violates the state constitution’s ban on providing public support to religious institutions, and several other constitutional provisions. Trial court ruled against plaintiffs, affirming constitutionality of the program. The court observed that the tax credit would not “increase their taxes or drain the state treasury,” and that “the Program may actually save the State money.” This ruling was appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court and on June 26, 2017, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected the complaint, ruling that plaintiffs had no standing to sue. Gaddy v. Georgia Department of Revenue, 802 S.E.2d 225 (2017).