Nevada's SGO application is out: the Department of Education takes filings November 9 to January 15

Nevada now has a form and dates. On November 2 the Nevada Department of Education added the federal credit to its Opportunity Scholarship page and posted an SGO Registration Application. Nonprofits seeking state approval and federal certification “must apply during NDE's expedited intake window,” which runs November 9, 2026 to January 15, 2027. That settles a question open since January, when Gov. Joe Lombardo opted in and his office said details on the application would follow Treasury's guidance. The window closes a month before February 15, 2027, the federal deadline for 2027 state lists.

How you file. It's one PDF, sent by email. Sign and date it, then send it with your attachments to SchlChoiceNDE@doe.nv.gov. Three things go with it: your IRS determination letter, a conflict of interest policy, and an affidavit signed by your CEO or your president or board chair and notarized. The form lists no fee. You sign the attestation under penalty of perjury, and it warns that misrepresentation can mean removal from the state's list and referral to federal authorities.

One form, two programs. The application covers both Nevada's Educational Choice Scholarship Program (NRS Chapter 388D) and §25F, and a box lets an organization opt out of the federal credit. They're different programs. The state credit goes to corporate donors against the Modified Business Tax and is capped at $6,655,000 a fiscal year, while the federal credit goes to individuals with no statewide ceiling. Being one of the five organizations on the department’s 2026-27 state list doesn't put you on the federal one, and the page offers no shortcut, so plan to file.

If your Form 1023 is pending. Section II has a box for an organization with “a pending Form 1023 with the IRS.” The same section and the checklist at the end still list the determination letter as a required attachment, with nothing offered in its place. Treasury's temporary regulations, which take effect without a comment period and apply from September 1, 2026, let a state list pending organizations if it lists every pending applicant that asks and certifies that the exemption, if granted, reaches back to January 1 of the list year or earlier (§ 1.25F-5T(d)(5)). Nevada's box suggests it means to take them. Email the department before you file and ask what to send instead of the letter.

What you certify. Sections III and IV follow §25F: a separate account with no commingling, scholarships to 10 or more students, 90% of income spent on scholarships for eligible students, qualified expenses only, no earmarking, no awards to disqualified people, verified household income and family size, the limit of 300% of area median income, and priority for prior recipients and then their siblings. You also describe in writing how you segregate the money and how you verify income. One wording difference: the form says students can't all attend the same “learning environment,” where the statute says school. Section VI adds an annual report to the state covering contributions, scholarships, students served and the share of income spent on scholarships, plus a certification of continued compliance.

Two parts to ask about. The notarized affidavit swears that no board member or employee “has been convicted of a felony or has declared bankruptcy in the last seven years,” and that none owns or operates a private school in Nevada registered, or to be registered, to receive grants under the state program or the federal credit. That language comes from the state program's registration law (NRS 388D.282), which doesn't mention §25F, and the form extends the school line to the federal credit. An organization with a board member or employee running a participating Nevada private school can't sign it as written. Section V, meanwhile, has you attest that you're in a state you name and maintain an “operational presence” there, without defining the phrase. Neither line is in §25F. Treasury's temporary regulations count an organization as located in a state if it's authorized to do business there and complies with the state's generally applicable charity laws (§ 1.25F-1T(a)(10)), require the list to include every qualifying located organization that asks, and bar a state from requiring an SGO to operate in a way more restrictive than §25F(c)(5) (§ 1.25F-5T(e)(2)). The form doesn't say how it squares these, so raise it with the department before anyone signs.

A line on the page to check against the rules. The department's summary says students at “Title I public schools or schools located in HUD Qualified Census Tracts” who are picked by their school for tutoring or special needs support qualify without household income verification. Treasury's proposed regulations, which you may rely on for 2027, do have a safe harbor like that, but it turns on census tracts. The school must be in a qualified census tract or certify that at least 80 percent of its students live in one, and the SGO needs a third-party audit each year (proposed § 1.25F-3(c)(6)(iii)(C)). A Title I school that meets neither test shouldn't count on it.

What to do first. An out-of-state organization should start with the Nevada Secretary of State: foreign nonprofit registration is $50, the initial list of officers and directors is another $50, and charity registration is filed with that list at no separate fee. Our Nevada apply page itemizes each step and cost. In Las Vegas, Clark County’s public schools and the Public Education Foundation have been exploring a package of services paid for with scholarships. If they go ahead, this is the window they'd use.

The calendar. The window opens November 9 and closes January 15, 2027. Neither the page nor the form says when the department will decide or when Nevada will file. February 15, 2027 is the federal deadline, and after it a state can't add organizations for that year (§ 1.25F-5T(d)(7)(ii)). Nevada's dates now sit with every other state’s, and the Nevada page has the rest of the state's process.