Illinois

Illinois offers K–12 students and their families several types of school choice, including two private school choice programs, charter schools, magnet schools, home schooling and intra-district public school choice via an open enrollment policy.

Invest in Kids Program

• Illinois’s Invest in Kids program offers tax credits to individuals and businesses for donations to scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs), nonprofits that provide private school scholarships to low- and middle-income students.
• Enacted 2017

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: 300 percent x Poverty (400 percent to remain eligible year-to-year) 
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: None 
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide 
  • Enrollment Cap: None 
  • Scholarship Cap: State’s average operating expense per pupil ($14,747 in 2019–20)  
  • Testing Mandates: State test 
  • Credit Value: 75 percent 
  • Per-Donor Credit Cap: $1 million  
  • Total Tax Credit Cap: $75 million 

Tax Credits for Educational Expenses

• Illinois allows individuals to claim a credit for educational expenses for dependent students attending a public, private or home school.
• Enacted 1999

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: $500,000 (married); $250,000 (single)
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: None
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide
  • Enrollment Cap: None
  • Credit Value: 25%
  • Taxpayer Credit Cap: $750
  • Testing Mandates: None

To find out more about educational choice programs in your state, please complete the below form.