Ohio

Ohio offers K–12 students and their families several types of school choice, including eight private school choice programs, charter schools, magnet schools, home schooling and inter-and intra-district public school choice via open enrollment policies.

K–12 Nonchartered Private School Tax Credit

• Ohio provides a tax credit of up to $500 or $1,000, depending on household income, for tuition paid for one or more dependents to attend a nonchartered private school. Families are eligible if their total annual household income is less than $100,000.
• Enacted 2021

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: $100,000
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: None
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide
  • Enrollment Cap: None
  • Individual Credit Cap: $1,000/child
  • Testing Mandates: None

K–12 Home Education Tax Credit

• Ohio provides a tax credit of up to $250 for qualifying home education expenses, including books, supplementary materials, supplies, computer software, applications or subscriptions.
• Enacted 2021

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: None
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: None
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide
  • Enrollment Cap: None
  • Individual Credit Cap: $250/child
  • Testing Mandates: None

Ohio Tax-Credit Scholarship Program

• Ohio offers tax credits to individuals supporting scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs), nonprofits that provide private school scholarships to students in need. This tax-credit scholarship program allows taxpayers to receive dollar-for-dollar tax credits up to $750 for their donations to SGOs.
• Enacted 2021

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: None (low-income priority)
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: No
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide
  • Enrollment Cap: No
  • Scholarship Cap: None
  • Testing Mandates: None
  • Credit Value: 100 percent
  • Per Donor Credit Cap: $750
  • Total Tax Credit Cap: None

Income-Based Scholarship Program

• Ohio’s Income-Based Scholarship Program allows income-qualified students to receive vouchers to attend private schools, provided they are not eligible for Ohio’s other school voucher programs. This is an expansion of Ohio’s “EdChoice” voucher program.
• Enacted 2013

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: 250 percent x Poverty (up to 400 percent for renewals)
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: None
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide
  • Enrollment Cap: None Voucher Cap: $5,500 (K–8) / $7,500 (9–12)
  • Testing Mandates: Nationally norm-referenced tests

Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program

• The Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship provides Ohio parents of children with special needs enrolled in public schools vouchers to pay for private school tuition, private therapies and other services covered by their Individual Education Plans (IEPs). The Ohio Department of Education sets school voucher limits for different types of disabilities, so funding and eligibility vary.
• Enacted 2011

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: None
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: No
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide
  • Enrollment Cap: 5% of students with special needs
  • Voucher Cap: $27,000
  • Testing Mandates: State test
  • Additional Information: Limited to students with special needs

Educational Choice Scholarship Program

• Ohio’s “EdChoice” scholarship program allows Ohio students who attend chronically low-performing public schools to receive vouchers that help them afford to attend private schools. Participating private schools are required to accept the voucher as full tuition for students whose families are at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
• Enacted 2005

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: None
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: Yes, with exceptions. (Phasing out. None for students entering K-2 or grade 9 in 2021-22.)
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide
  • Enrollment Cap: None
  • Voucher Cap: $5,500 (K–8) / $7,500 (9–12)
  • Testing Mandates: Nationally norm-referenced tests
  • Additional Information: Limited to students assigned to low-performing district schools

Autism Scholarship Program

• Ohio’s Autism Scholarship Program allows Ohio students on the autism spectrum to receive vouchers up to $27,000 for education services from a private provider, including tuition at a private school.
• Enacted 2003

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: None
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: None
  • Geographic Limit: Statewide
  • Enrollment Cap: None
  • Voucher Cap: $31,500 per year in FY2022 and $32,455 per year in FY2023 and beyond
  • Testing Mandates: None
  • Additional Information: Limited to students with special needs

Cleveland Scholarship Program

• Parents in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District can receive vouchers to send their children to private school or public schools bordering the school district through the Cleveland Scholarship Program.
• Enacted 1995

Program Rules:

• • Income Limit: None (Priority given to families up to 200% x Poverty)
  • Prior Year Public School Requirement: None
  • Geographic Limit: District (Cleveland Metropolitan)
  • Enrollment Cap: None
  • Voucher Cap: $5,500 (K–8) / $7,500 (9–12)
  • Testing Mandates: Nationally norm-referenced tests

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