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 73% 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 1,261 students across the state in over 180 partner private schools.
ACE serves children whose families qualify for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program, and the average income for our ACE families is $29,000 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 scholars consistently graduating high school. Moreover, they’re graduating from college at a rate nearly double that of their peers from predominantly low-income high schools.*
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.
*All ACE graduation stats based on national numbers.
