EdChoice lauds massive Pennsylvania tax-credit scholarship expansion

Program will increase by $40 million, empower 13,000 more families to choose

INDIANAPOLIS—EdChoice, a national nonprofit organization that promotes state-based educational choice programs, lauded Pennsylvania lawmakers for the largest expansion of the state’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program since its inception two decades ago. Gov. Tom Wolf today signed the state budget, which included the expansion.

The $40 million increase will allow an estimated 13,000 additional students to participate in the program.

“This is a great day for Pennsylvania families, more of whom will now be able to access educational options beyond their assigned schools,” said Robert Enlow, President and CEO of EdChoice, which advocates for universal school choice programs nationally.

EdChoice has provided fiscal and economic analysis and training support to state partners in Pennsylvania.

“This is the biggest expansion since the inception of the program two decades ago,” said Marc LeBlond, senior policy analyst at the Commonwealth Foundation, a state-based think tank in Pennsylvania. “While demand for EITC scholarships continues to outstrip supply, and the program must keep growing at a faster pace to meet the need, this expansion represents important progress for educational opportunity in Pennsylvania.”

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