There’s a crisis in American education. Too many kids from low-income families are falling between the cracks simply because they’re stuck in failing schools and can’t afford any other options. It’s happening right here in Louisiana where only 68% of students from low-income families graduate from high school.
ACE Scholarships was founded in 2000 to provide these low-income parents with school choice for their families through partial scholarships to K-12 private schools.
In 2012, ACE Scholarships expanded its efforts nationally, to help more students receive the opportunity to have a choice in their K-12 education career. Louisiana was the third state of ACE’s national efforts, now serving 1,250 students across the state in over 130 partner private schools.
ACE serves children whose families qualify for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program, and the median income for our ACE families is $34,000 a year.
So far in Louisiana, we’ve awarded 4,256 scholarships with a cumulative worth of more than $17.5M, helping to send kids from low-income families to the schools of their choice.
And the results are amazing with 90%+ of ACE students graduating from high school each year. Moreover, they’re enrolling in and graduating from college at rates similar to kids from predominantly high-income high schools.*
*All stats based on national numbers
Additional Information for ACE Louisiana:
- ACE qualifies for the Louisiana Tuition Donation Credit (TDC) Program.
- ACE Scholarships Louisiana is an approved School Tuition Organization (STO) participating in the TDC Program.
- Beginning January 1, 2018, corporate and individual taxpayers can claim a state income tax credit for donations to a qualified STO. STOs are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and are required by law to spend 95% of every donation on scholarships for low-income students in grades K-12. The credit is equal to the amount of the donation used to fund scholarships after administrative costs (not to exceed 5%) have been accounted for.
- For more information about the TDC, please view our frequently asked questions.
