This report provides information on state programs that provide financial assistance for student attendance at private elementary and secondary schools.

Types of programs discussed in this report

In this report, state programs are grouped in the following two general types:

1. Voucher or voucher-like tuition assistance programs
2. Tax credit or tax deduction programs

The following descriptions of these general types are provided to assist the reader.

1. Vouchers are payments made to a parent or to an educational institution for a student's education expenses. The term "scholarship" is also used to describe this form of payment. Vouchers may be funded publicly by tax dollars, or privately by scholarship organizations. This report describes only publicly funded voucher programs, sometimes referred to as "tax-supported scholarships." Educational institutions that accept voucher students may also be public or private. This report focuses on voucher programs that allow for attendance at private elementary and secondary schools. Education expenses covered by vouchers normally include tuition, and may also include a range of fees and transportation costs. Vouchers may cover such expenses in full or in part.

   Voucher programs may be designed so that assistance is available only to students who meet certain eligibility criteria. Student eligibility criteria used in state voucher programs may include but are not limited to: original school of attendance, area of residence, family income, and disability. In classifying state programs into the voucher type, this report accordingly includes a further short description of the set of students eligible for assistance. For instance, this report refers to the voucher program in the state of Wisconsin as providing vouchers to students from low-income families in Milwaukee.

   "Voucher-like tuition assistance" refers to a particular kind of assistance provided by the states of Maine and Vermont. In these states, school districts that have no available public schooling-normally, school districts in small towns or rural areas-may send students to private schools or to public schools in other districts. Sending school districts pay the receiving school's tuition, or a portion thereof, on behalf of the student.

2. Tax credit and tax deduction programs reimburse education-related expenses fully or partially via tax relief. Tax credit programs provide direct reductions to taxpayers' tax liability. Tax deduction programs provide reductions in taxable income prior to calculation of tax liability. As with voucher programs, this report focuses on tax credit and tax deduction programs that provide assistance for student attendance at private elementary and secondary schools.

   Tax credit and tax deduction programs may be designed to provide tax relief to specific recipients for specific education-related expenses. In this report, tax credit and tax deduction programs are further classified as applicable to a) individual or corporate taxpayers for charitable contributions to organizations that provide scholarships for attendance at private schools; and b) parent (or guardian) taxpayers for education expenses including, but not limited to, private school tuition.

Organization of the report

Information on state programs in this report is organized in two sections, followed by two appendices.

Overview of State Programs provides an overview of the state programs, including tables of selected state program data. Data are presented in tables according to program type.

Descriptions of State Programs provides individual summary descriptions of the respective state programs. Where available, information is provided on the following topics: program type, name, description, amount of assistance, number of participants, authorizing statute, legislative history, judicial history, and sources for more information.

Appendix A provides citations for the authorizing statute(s), with expanded statute descriptions and hyperlinks to statutory documents, for each of the respective state programs.

Appendix B lists Web resources for further information on the state programs and for information on issues in private school choice generally.