Alaska approves nine more SGOs, takes applications to January 31, and now says its final list goes to the IRS by February 15

Alaska has approved nine more organizations for its federal Education Freedom Tax Credit list. On November 4 the Department of Education and Early Development rebuilt its SGO page and added a “Second Round of Approved State of Alaska SGOs” under the 20 that Gov. Mike Dunleavy approved on October 2. That brings Alaska to 29 approved organizations, and it is still the only state that has published its approvals by name. The page also puts the state's calendar in writing for the first time: “Applications must be received by January 31, 2027 and the final list will be transmitted no later than February 15, 2027.” And it adds a line for next year: “SGO's will be required to renew annually.” We found no press release with the update.

The second round. The department lists ACSI Children Education Fund, Advanced Employment Group, A Great Way International, EducationSuperHighway, How To Student Scholarships, Nehemiah Foundation, Providing Lunch Access To Every Student, RISE Alaska Education Scholarship Fund and ScholarStreet SGO. Most are national or out-of-state groups, like most of the first round. EducationSuperHighway, which says on its own site that it is a scholarship granting organization funding early-literacy tutoring, was also one of the eight names on Virginia's January letter. The Nehemiah Foundation, a Nashville nonprofit, says its Homeschool Fund for Christian homeschool families applied in Alaska. IRS records place ScholarStreet SGO in Arlington, Virginia, ACSI Children Education Fund in Colorado Springs, A Great Way International in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Advanced Employment Group in Miami, and Providing Lunch Access To Every Student in Hinesville, Georgia. The department gives no contact details for any of them.

RISE is the name to watch. In October the Alaska Council of School Administrators said it had applied to put RISE, a new nonprofit led by former Juneau superintendent Frank Hauser, on the state's list to fund public school students, with a focus on rural districts whose small staffs can't take on the IRS paperwork. The department's list gives only the name, and neither the department nor the council has announced the approval. If RISE Alaska Education Scholarship Fund is the council's fund, Alaska's public schools now have an SGO of their own on the state list, about two months before donations can start on January 1, 2027.

The first pending approval. One second-round name, How To Student Scholarships, carries an asterisk: “Pending IRS final determination.” It's the first time Alaska has listed an organization whose exemption the IRS hasn't granted yet. The page now says so in its instructions too: send your 501(c)(3) determination letter “or applicable documentation for a qualifying pending application under federal rules,” and contact the department about what to send. That matches what the department told an applicant by email on November 2 (which states take a pending Form 1023). Treasury's temporary regulations, which take effect without a comment period and apply from September 1, 2026, allow it at § 1.25F-5T(d)(5): a state can list an organization whose application is pending if it lists every pending applicant that asks, marks each one as pending, and certifies that the exemption, once granted, will reach back to January 1, 2027 or earlier.

What else the page now answers. The new FAQ says students at public, private and religious schools may qualify, and that a separately organized education foundation, such as a school district foundation, may qualify as an SGO if it meets the federal requirements. Alaska Native and tribal organizations can too. On homeschool and correspondence students, the department says “Yes, however, eligibility for certain educational arrangements, including homeschool and correspondence programs, remains subject to additional federal clarification,” which is where things stand: Treasury's guidance on qualified expenses under section 530 hasn't come out. The department is also “reviewing how state business licensing and registration requirements apply” to listed organizations. And it warns that state approval “does not, by itself, establish that an organization has completed all federal registration requirements or is currently accepting contributions.” Every listed SGO still has to register in the IRS SGO portal, which hasn't opened.

December 1 is gone from the page. On October 2 the state said it “expects to submit its final 2027 list of approved scholarship granting organizations to the IRS by December 1st,” six days before the governor elected on November 3 takes office on December 7. The new page doesn't mention December 1, and it now gives February 15 for the final list. Both fit the federal rules. Under the temporary regulations, Alaska completes its 2027 election by sending a list between October 1, 2026 and February 15, 2027 (§ 1.25F-5T(c)(3)(ii)), and a state can replace or supplement its list at any time before that deadline (§ 1.25F-5T(d)(7)(i)). Treasury reads the law to allow no revocation once an election is perfected. So the state could still send a first list before the handoff and the final one by February 15. The page doesn't say whether it will. If the only list goes after December 7, completing Alaska's 2027 participation falls to the next administration, the situation five other states with new governors are already in.

For organizations. The application hasn't changed: a letter of interest signed by an authorized representative, attesting that you meet and will keep meeting the federal SGO requirements, plus your determination letter or proof of a pending application, emailed to SGO@alaska.gov. January 31 is now the published cutoff, and with annual renewal you should plan to reapply for 2028. An Alaska-listed SGO can take gifts from donors in any state, but the money in its Alaska §25F account funds only students who live in Alaska. The Alaska application guide has the steps, Alaska's approved SGOs has all 29 with their pages, every state's official list is in one place, and the free SGO Builder walks through formation and compliance.