Arizona

“Switcher” Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program

  • Tax-Credit Scholarship
  • Enacted 2012
  • Launched 2012

Arizona’s “Switcher” (Overflow/PLUS) Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program supplements its Original Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program. The switcher program provides a credit on individual income taxes for donations to School Tuition Organizations (STOs), nonprofits that provide private school scholarships. Students may receive more than one scholarship from STOs.

We do not administer this program.

Eligibility Test Apply

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  • 21,241

    Scholarships Awarded (2022–2023)

  • 88%

    of Students Eligible Statewide

  • 47

    Scholarship Organizations Awarding Scholarships (2022–2023)

  • 346

    Participating Schools (2022–2023)

  • $1,710

    Average Scholarship Value (2022–2023)

  • 16%

    Value as a Percentage of Public School Per-student Spending

Arizona’s “Switcher” Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarship Participation

Scholarships Awarded
School Year Ending
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Student Funding

Use of Funds

Funds from STOs are used to pay for tuition at qualified private schools for full-time enrollment

Funding Amount and Source

Private donors fund this program by donating to STOs and receiving tax credits for their donation, up to certain limits. STOs determine scholarship amounts. These amounts may vary depending on the STO to which a student applies for a scholarship. Students may receive more than one scholarship from STOs. Scholarship values are capped at the school’s tuition but multi-year tuition scholarships are permitted, and scholarships can be combined. Tax credits are worth 100% of the value of the contributions to scholarship organizations, but donors can only claim up to $728 in tax credits annually (or up to $1,451 for married couples filing jointly) after first donating the maximum credit amount for the Original Individual Income Tax Credit ($731 individual, $1,459 joint) in tax year 2024. The credit limit is adjusted annually, on or after January 1, using the Consumer Price Index published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, except that the dollar amount cannot be reduced from the prior taxable year. This credit is not available to corporations.

(Last updated July 15, 2024) 

Student Eligibility

Students in grades K–12 who attended a public or charter school for at least 90 days, or a full semester, in the prior school year and transferred to a private school are eligible for a scholarship. Pre-kindergarten students with disabilities are eligible if attending a qualified school that offers needed services for any of the following conditions: hearing impairment; visual impairment; developmental delay; preschool severe delay; or speech and/or language impairment. Additionally, students who are in, or enrolling in, a private school kindergarten; children of active military members stationed in Arizona; children who were homeschooled before transferring directly to a private school; and children who moved into Arizona from another state or country and transferred directly into an Arizona private school are eligible. To be eligible, kindergarten students must be age 5 by January 1 of their kindergarten school year. Students must attend the private school fulltime to participate. A student who participated in the ESA program and did not renew or accept the scholarship may accept a STO scholarship by transferring into the program. Children remain eligible for the program as long as they are continuously enrolled and attending a private school and receiving the scholarship, and they are also eligible for this scholarship if they received a low-income corporate scholarship or a disabled/displaced corporate scholarship in the prior year. A student who receives Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) money from the Arizona Department of Education is not eligible for a “switcher” tax credit award. Students may receive multiple tax-credit scholarship awards or receive awards from multiple tax-credit scholarship programs as eligible.

(Last updated July 15, 2024) 

EdChoice Expert Feedback

Arizona’s individual-donor tax-credit scholarship program for “switchers” helps tens of 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 students who have switched out of a public school or who are entering kindergarten (or preschool for students with special needs). More than nine in 10 Arizona students are eligible to receive a scholarship via this program, and all students are eligible to receive a scholarship via the individual-donor scholarship program. Statewide, less than 10 percent of students participate in one of Arizona’s private educational choice options (including the universal-eligibility Original Individual-Donor Tax-Credit Scholarship Program, the Low-Income Corporate-Donor Tax-Credit Scholarship Program, Lexie’s Law for Disabled and Displaced Students Tax-Credit Scholarship Program, and the Empowerment Scholarship Account Program). This is the highest EdChoice share in the nation.   The average scholarship size is only about $1,447, which is only about 16 percent of the average expenditure per student at Arizona’s district schools, but there is no cap on scholarship values and scholarships can be combined. Students with special needs, students in foster care, and students from low-income families can also receive scholarships via the other tax-credit scholarship programs, in addition to the original scholarship program that is available to all students. Tax credits are worth 100 percent of the value of the contributions to scholarship organizations, but donors can only claim up to $728 in tax credits annually (or up to $1,451 for married couples filing jointly) after first donating the maximum credit amount for the Original Individual Income Tax Credit ($731 individual, $1,459 joint in tax year 2024).  To expand access to educational choice, Arizona policymakers should increase the amount of tax credits that individual donors can receive.  Arizona’s scholarship program generally avoids unnecessary and counterproductive regulations.   (Last updated December 18, 2023) 

Rules and Regulations

Program Guidelines

  • Income Limit: 185% x FRL
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: Yes, with exceptions
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide
  • Enrollment Cap: None
  • Scholarship Cap: Tuition of Qualified Private School
  • Testing Mandates: None
  • Credit Value: 100%
  • Per Donor Credit Cap: $728 (Individual) / $1,451 (Married)
  • Budget: None

Participant and Family Guidelines

  • Education Requirements: N/A
  • Parent Supplemented Funds/Scholarships: Allowed
  • Miscellaneous: May not earmark or trade STO contributions for dependents

Education Provider Guidelines

  • Accreditation: State or regional
  • Employment Standards: Background checks
  • Nondiscrimination: State and federal
  • Calendar/Curriculum/Attendance: N/A
  • Financial: N/A
  • Miscellaneous: N/A

Scholarship Organization Guidelines

  • Scholarship to Contribution Ratio: Use at least 90% of contributions for scholarships
  • State Reporting: Report annually to the state:
    • Data on accepted contributions, grants awarded, the dollar amount of scholarships granted to students who qualify for the free or reduced-price lunch program or whose family income does not exceed 185% of the eligibility requirements for the free or reduced-price lunch program.
    • The amount of money being held for identified student scholarships in future years and a list of participating schools with the number and dollar amount of scholarship awards received
  • Financial:
    • Report the salary of the STO’s top three officials for the fiscal year and
    • Provide proof of an independent review of financial statements by a certified public accountant.
  • Award Priority: Financial need
  • Miscellaneous:
    • Make scholarships available for more than one school
    • May allow donors to recommend student beneficiaries but shall not award, designate or reserve scholarships solely on the basis of donor recommendations
    • Cannot exchange recommendations of student beneficiaries with other donors 

(Last updated December 18, 2024)

Governing Statutes

Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 43-1089.03; 43-1601 through 1605

(Last updated July 15, 2024)