The federal scholarship credit, animated
Short explainers built from the same verified research as our written guides, the mechanics, the math, the maps, and the fine print of the Education Freedom Tax Credit.
Start here
In 2027, you flip the switch
Up to $1,700 of federal tax you already owe, redirected to a student's scholarship. Same money out of pocket, a student gets a scholarship.
Read the full guideHow the EFTC works: donor → SGO → student
The whole system animated: the three-player loop, why a credit beats a deduction 4.5-to-1, what scholarships cover, and the 30-state map.
Read the full guide
Explaining the EFTC to your community
The three sentences that land, credit not deduction, any amount up to $1,700, starts Jan 1 2027, plus the two honest guardrails.
Read the full guideDonors
Claiming your $1,700: a three-step errand
Give to a listed fund, keep the acknowledgment with your donor number (no SSN), file the number. Plus the Dec-2026/Jan-2027 timing cliff.
Read the full guide529 vs. state credits vs. the EFTC
Three different machines: a savings account, a state program, and the uniform federal credit, and how they stack (never the same dollars).
Read the full guidePoint your gift at your school
School designation is allowed; student earmarking is prohibited (§25F(d)(1)(E)). How school communities run the giving model.
Read the full guide
The EFTC for practitioners: four rules + the haircut
Credit-not-deduction for standard-deduction clients, one treatment per dollar, the 5-year carryforward, and the §25F(b)(2) state-credit trap.
Read the full guide
Don't wait for the refund: the W-4 move
Adjust your withholding for the expected $1,700 credit and take it home at roughly $141 a month, with the one rule that keeps it clean: give first, then adjust.
Read the full guideFamilies
Who qualifies? Exactly three tests
K-12, household income up to 300% of area median (higher than you assume), and a participating state. Measured by county and family size.
Read the full guideHomeschool: where the scholarship can follow the child home
Our verified 50-state map: 15 states where it likely works, 24 where it likely doesn't, 12 gray, and the Treasury rule that decides.
Read the full guideLearning differences: the most flexible money yet
OT, PT, speech, behavioral therapy, at a specialized school or on top of public-school services. No IEP required by the federal law.
Read the full guideNo, it's not private-school-only
The scholarship is defined around the student. Tutoring, technology, books, and services for kids who stay in public school.
Read the full guideRunning an SGO
The SGO: the money doesn't run itself
The 90/10 rule, the fine print with teeth, the January 1 list deadline, and the operator's day-to-day loop.
Read the full guide
SGO software: why spreadsheets break in year one
Per-donor receipts, 300%-AMGI verification, per-state accounts, award priority, and why every manual hour eats the 10% admin cap.
Read the full guidePolicy
Is this a voucher? No, here's the difference
Voucher vs. ESA vs. EFTC by funding source: with the EFTC, no government check ever moves. And how the programs combine.
Read the full guideSitting out doesn't save money, it exports it
Opting in costs a state $0. Sitting out means your taxpayers' donations fund other states' kids while home-state kids get nothing.
Read the full guide
Five dates that decide the EFTC
Signed July 2025, advance elections from January 2026, proposed regs by September, first donations January 1 2027, first claims in 2028.
Read the full guide
Treasury's §25F preview: the five headlines
Donor numbers (no SSNs), per-state accounts, multistate SGOs, reliance for 2027, and full proposed regulations by end of September.
Read the full guide
The credit's real risk isn't politics, it's uptake
The leaky funnel from eligible to filed-correctly, the frictions that lose people at every step, and why SGOs sit exactly where the program is won or lost.
Read the full guide
Get EFTC updates in your inbox
Stay updated on opt-in votes, guidance, and deadlines as the January 2027 launch approaches.