Missouri

Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program

  • Tax-Credit Education Savings Account
  • Enacted 2021
  • Launched 2021

The Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program is a tax-credit education savings account that allows eligible parents to receive funding to pay for tuition at the school of their choice, as well as other educational expenses such as tutoring, educational therapies, individual classes, and extracurricular programs. Individuals and businesses may receive tax credits for donations to Educational Assistance Organizations (EAOs), nonprofits that administer ESAs.

We do not administer this program.

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  • 1st

    Missouri’s First School Choice Program

  • 2nd

    Nation’s 2nd Tax Credit-Funded Education Savings Account

  • 1,997

    Participating Students (2023–2024)

  • 82%

    of Families Income Eligible in Applicable Missouri Cities and Counties (2023–2024)

  • 50%

    Maximum Account Value as a Percentage of Public School Per-Student Spending (2023–2024)

Percentage of students eligible for Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program

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Student Funding

Use of Funds 

Students may use Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) for private school tuition fees or a variety of a la carte educational expenses, including textbooks, educational therapies, tutoring services, curriculum, virtual school tuition, standardized tests, public school classes, extracurricular activities, certain approved computer hardware and technological devices, summer education programs, after-school programs, and transportation to and from school. 

Inclusion of Family Paced Education schools allow for students to participate without attending a traditional private school. 

Funding Amount and Source 

Private donors fund this program by donating to Educational Assistance Organizations (EAOs) and receiving tax credits for their donation, up to certain limits. EAOs determine ESA amounts, with a typical maximum limit of the annual state adequacy target, which is about 50% of average total per-pupil funding in Missouri. Higher maximum scholarships are available for qualifying students. For limited English proficiency students, up to 160% of the state adequacy target is available. Students qualifying for Free or Reduced-Price Lunches are eligible for up to 125% of the state adequacy target. Qualifying students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) may receive up to 175% of the target. EAOs must distribute funds four times a year, or in a single lump sum at the beginning of the year, according to the request of the parents. The total credits claimed for donations to Educational Assistance Organizations cannot exceed $75 million (adjusted in an amount equal to the percent increase or decrease in the amount of state aid distributed to school districts, meaning about 12,000 students can participate, or less than 2% of Missouri’s K–12 student population). Taxpayers may make donations to qualified organizations for credits worth 100% of the donation, limited to half of their total annual tax liability.   

(Last updated July 15, 2024) 

Student Eligibility

A student must be a legal resident of Missouri and meet one of the following criteria: (1) have an approved Individualized Education Plan (IEP) developed under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. Section 1400, or (2) be from a family whose income does not exceed 300% of the standard used to qualify for Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRL) participation ($173,160 for a family of four 2024–2025). Students qualifying under the latter criteria must also have attended public school as a full-time student for at least one semester during the previous 12 months, be eligible to start kindergarten or the first grade, or be a sibling of a qualified student who received a scholarship grant in the previous school year and will receive a scholarship in the current school year. Once enrolled in the program, students remain eligible for the ESA until withdrawing from school or graduating high school. Missouri prioritizes students who received a scholarship last year and siblings of students who will receive a scholarship in the current school year, followed by students with IEPs and students whose family income does not exceed 100% of the standard used to qualify for Free and Reduced-Price Lunch participation ($57,720 for a family of four 2024–2025). 

(Last updated July 15, 2024) 

EdChoice Expert Feedback

Missouri’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program is the country’s second tax credit-funded ESA and has the potential to help thousands of Missouri students obtain the educational services that best fit their needs. However, policymakers could do more to expand educational opportunity.  Eligibility for the ESAs is limited to students with special needs or those from families earning up to 300 percent of the federal free and reduced price lunch program and only those currently living counties with a charter form of government or cities with at least 30,000 inhabitants. This limitation hampers potential growth of educational options in rural areas of Missouri.  The value of each ESA is only about $6,375 at most. That’s about half of the average expenditure per student at Missouri’s district schools.  Moreover, the program provides only $75 million in tax credits for donations to the educational assistance organizations. At most, the program will be able to serve only about 3,900 students, or less than 1 percent of Missouri’s K–12 student population.  To expand access to educational choice, Missouri policymakers should increase the ESA amounts to be comparable with the per-pupil spending at district schools and expand eligibility to all students. The tax credits for the donations that fund the ESAs are also set to expire after 2026. The Missouri legislature should work quickly to extend the ESA policy long term.  Missouri’s ESA program generally avoids counterproductive regulations. Administration of the program is overseen by nonprofit educational assistance organizations, which should give ESA families a voice to ensure that the program is run effectively.  (Last updated December 18, 2023) 

Rules and Regulations

Program Guidelines

  • Income Limit: 300% x FRL threshold for non-special needs students; no income limit for students with IEP, priority for 100 x FRL
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: Yes, With Exceptions
  • Enrollment Cap: None
  • Account Deposit Cap (Max): $6,375; $7,650 (FRL eligible); $11,156 (Students with an IEP)
  • Testing Mandates: State test or nationally norm-referenced tests
  • Credit Value: 100%
  • Per Donor Credit Cap: 50% of Taxpayer’s Liability
  • Total Tax Credit Cap: $75 million
  • Special Needs Pathway: Priority

Participant and Family Guidelines

  • Education Requirements: Ensure qualified student enrolls in a qualified school and receive an education in at least the subjects of English language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science
  • Parent Supplemented Funds/Scholarships: Allowed
  • Miscellaneous: Except for a qualified student who is in the custody of the state, the qualified student shall not be enrolled in a public school operated by, or a charter school located within, the qualified student’s district of residence, and shall release the district of residence from all obligations to educate the qualified student while the qualified student is enrolled in the program

Education Provider Guidelines

  • Accreditation/Approval: N/A
  • Employment Standards: State may refuse hiring someone with a criminal conviction
  • Nondiscrimination: Federal
  • Calendar/Curriculum/Attendance: N/A
  • Financial:
    • Surety bond for donations >$50,000, annual audit
    • Spend <10% of revenue on non-scholarship expenses
  • Miscellaneous: N/A

Educational Assistance Organizations (EAO) Requirements

  • Scholarship to Contribution Ratio: Spend at least 90% on scholarships
  • State Reporting:
    • Report test results, high school graduation, college attendance and college graduation for participating students, and aggregate data by grade level, gender, family income level, and race to the state treasurer, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the board
  • Financial:
    • Provide a state treasurer approved receipt to taxpayers for contributions made to the organization
    • Demonstrate financial viability if receiving donations of fifty thousand dollars or more during a school year by either securing a surety bond equal to the aggregate number of contributions expected or providing other financial information to demonstrate viability
    • Conduct annual audits by CPA
  • Award Priority: Existing scholarship students, siblings of scholarships students, students with an IEP under IDEA, students with a dyslexia diagnosis, according to income based using the free and reduced lunch scale
  • Miscellaneous:
    • Follow statutory limits on marketing and administrative expenses
    • Distribute scholarship account payments four times per year or at the beginning of the year as requested by the parent
    • Conduct criminal background checks on all employees and board members
    • Conduct and report on an annual parental satisfaction survey
    • Ensure participating students take the state achievement tests or nationally norm-referenced tests as required
    • No more than 10 EAOs in any one single year may be certified to administer scholarship accounts

(Last updated July 15, 2024)

Governing Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 135.712–14; 135.716; 135.719; 166.700; 166.705; 166.710; 166.715; and 166.720

(Last updated July 15, 2024)