Four Ways to Pay Less for Private School
1. State Vouchers and ESAs
The biggest single-source aid. Seventeen states now fund vouchers or Education Savings Accounts worth $2,500 to $10,474 per student per year. Seven of those are universal (no income test). The rest have income limits, typically 200-450% of the federal poverty level. If your state has one, apply first. Check our voucher eligibility guide for details.
2. Tax Credit Scholarships
Over 20 states let donors take a state tax credit for contributing to scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs or STOs). Those organizations turn the donations into scholarships for private school students. Pennsylvania's EITC alone funds $200M+ in scholarships annually. Florida's FTC program serves over 100,000 students. You don't donate — you apply to the SGO and they award the scholarship.
3. State Tax Deductions and Credits
A handful of states (Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, Louisiana) let you deduct private school tuition from your state taxable income or claim a direct tax credit. The savings are smaller ($240 to $1,500/year typically) but they're available to all families regardless of income in most cases.
4. School-Based Need Aid
Every private school sets aside money for tuition assistance. Catholic schools get subsidies from parishes and dioceses. Independent schools draw from endowments. The amount varies wildly. A small Christian academy might have $50K total in aid. A school like Phillips Exeter has over $1B in endowment. Always apply for aid at the school level, even if you also receive state aid. They stack.
How to Maximize Your Aid
Apply to every program you might qualify for. State voucher or ESA first (biggest awards). Then tax credit scholarships through your state's SGOs. Then school-based aid. Most programs let you combine multiple sources. A family in Pennsylvania could stack an EITC scholarship ($8,500), a school need grant ($4,000), and end up paying under $2,000/year at a school with $14,000 tuition.
Don't assume you make too much. Indiana's voucher goes up to $111K/family of 4. North Carolina's goes to $133K. Ohio's EdChoice Expansion covers up to $115K. And school-based aid has no government income limit — it's whatever the school decides.