Illinois

Illinois has two private school choice programs, a tax-credit scholarship and an individual tax credit for educational expenses.

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.