Arkansas

Arkansas offers K–12 students and their families various types of school choice, including two private school choice program—a school voucher and tax-credit scholarship—as well as charter schools, magnet schools, homeschooling and traditional public school choice via open enrollment.

Philanthropic Investment in Arkansas Kids Scholarship Program

• Arkansas offers tax credits to individuals and businesses that support scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs), nonprofits that provide private school scholarships to students from families earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
• Enacted 2021

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: 200 percent x Poverty 
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: Yes, with exceptions 
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide  
  • Enrollment Cap: None 
  • Scholarship Cap: $5,614 (K–8) / $6,316 (9–12)  
  • Testing Mandates:  Nationally norm-referenced tests 
  • Credit Value: 100 percent 
  • Per Donor Credit Cap: none 
  • Total Tax Credit Cap: $2 million

Succeed Scholarship Program

• Arkansas provides private school vouchers to students in foster care, students with disabilities and the children of active-duty or reserve members of the U.S. military. Students who fall under these categories must have previously attended public school, unless they are children of active-duty military families or they receive a waiver from their school district.
• Enacted 2015

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: None 
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: Yes, with exceptions 
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide 
  • Enrollment Cap: None, except students in foster care are capped at 20 
  • Maximum voucher amount: $7,182 
  • Testing Mandates: Nationally norm-referenced tests 
  • Additional Information: Limited to students with special needs, in foster care, or dependents of U.S. military personnel 

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