Alaska approves its first 20 scholarship organizations and plans to send the IRS its 2027 list by December 1, before Dunleavy leaves office

In August, Alaska became the state that put a date on its first SGO approvals: September 30, 2026. It came in two days late and one day after Treasury released the §25F rules. On October 2, Gov. Mike Dunleavy approved the first 20 organizations. "The Education Freedom Tax Credit presents a tremendous opportunity for Alaska's children," he said. "I'm pleased to approve this first round of 20 organizations so that Alaskan students can benefit from scholarship opportunities as soon as possible."

Who is on it. The state's announcement lists: AAA Scholarship Foundation, ACE Alliance for Choice in Education, AFC Scholarship Fund, Alaska Students First, American Catholic Education Fund, Christian Education Network, Federal Student Scholarship Organization Inc., Friends of Spruce Tree Montessori, Gifted & Talented Scholarships, Head of Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, Hometown Scholarships, Jewish Education Fund of America, Jewish Opportunity Fund, K-12 Scholarship Foundation Inc., Noble Arch Fund, Orthodox Christian Scholarship Fund (OCEN), Pay Your Tuition Foundation, Renew Scholarships Alaska, Scholarkids, and Student Athletic Scholarships. The state says each was verified as tax-exempt and met its application requirements, which since August have been two documents: a letter attesting to federal compliance and a 501(c)(3) determination letter. Education Commissioner Deena Bishop pitched it as a starting gun for schools and families: "Schools can identify needs. Families can learn about scholarships."

Many of these are multistate organizations. Several names on the list are national groups raising for students in many states. Under Treasury's proposed rules, an organization that appears on more than one state's list is a multistate SGO: it must meet the 85% scholarship-activity test, keep a separate §25F account for each state, and let donors say which state their gift is for. Every dollar in the Alaska account has to fund Alaska students; scholarships follow the student's state, not the donor's.

What approval means now that the rules exist. Treasury's temporary regulations require a participating state to list every qualifying organization located in the state that asks, and to use an application process tailored to the federal requirements. Until an organization files its first report with the IRS, the state may rely on its governing documents and written policies, provided they expressly require the federal operational rules. Every approved organization still has to register in the IRS's SGO portal, which has not opened yet. Applications in Alaska remain open on a rolling basis, so this is a first round, not the final list. One caution: as of October 5 the state's own SGO page still shows the September 30 target and no list; the names above come from the governor's announcement as published by Alaska news outlets.

The December 1 date is the interesting one. Alaska says it "expects to submit its final 2027 list of approved scholarship granting organizations to the IRS by December 1st." Under the temporary rules, submitting that list is what perfects Alaska's advance election for 2027, and Treasury reads the law to allow no revocation after that. Dunleavy is term-limited, and the governor elected on November 3 takes office on December 7. Filing by December 1 settles 2027 under the governor who opted Alaska in, the same sequence Colorado laid out the day before: Polis plans to file Colorado's list before January 1, ahead of his own successor. The federal deadline is February 15, 2027 (full calendar). The state constitutional question NEA-Alaska raised in January, the no-aid clause, remains unresolved.

For organizations. If you want to serve Alaska students, the application is still a letter and a determination letter sent to SGO@alaska.gov, and the state is still taking them. The federal groundwork is the same everywhere; our free SGO Builder walks through it, the SGO directory shows who is already organizing, and the Alaska page tracks the state.