Governor Glenn Youngkin announced on Friday that Virginia is the first state in the nation to opt-in to the Education Freedom Tax Credit, also known as the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit or “vouchers”.
Starting January 1, 2027 Taxpaying individuals or organizations will be able to claim a dollar-for-dollar, nonrefundable tax credit up to $1,700 for contributions to Scholarship Granting Organizations.
The SGOs then provide K-12 scholarships to be used in private school or religious institution tuition, tutoring, education therapies, and other education related services.
Governor Youngkin has already submitted the initial list of eight SGOs to be used in Virginia including:
- Step Up, Virginia! (statewide)
- Torah Education Scholarship Fund (statewide)
- The Endowment Project Foundation (national)
- American Federation for Children (national)
- Children’s Scholarship Fund (national)
- Reficio (national)
- ACE Scholarships (national)
- EducationSuperHighway (national)
Opponents including the Virginia Education Association, the Commonwealth’s largest teachers union, estimate the loss of enrollment between 12,600 – 54,000 students for public schools and a loss of $222-$956 million annually in funding.
Additional guidance will come later from the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service.