Jewish Federations of North America applaud Treasury regulations released Thursday for the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, a new policy that will help increase access and affordability to Jewish Day Schools by allowing taxpayers to receive tax credits for up to $1,700 in donations to qualified Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGO) starting in 2027. Those SGOs can provide scholarships to students in both public and private schools to support tuition, technology, tutoring, supplies, and other forms of educational support.

 

The regulations made clear that married couples could each claim the credit, meaning up to $3,400 for joint filers, and that they would not interfere with similar state-level programs. Jewish Federations of North America advocated for these regulations.

 

While all US taxpayers will be eligible to donate to an SGO and receive the credit, only students in states that have opted in will be eligible to receive scholarships. Currently, only 30 states have opted in. Jewish Federations thank those governors who have already opted in, and urge those who have not to quickly review the regulations and make these funds accessible for students and families in their states. The U.S. Treasury estimates that by 2030, these education scholarships will amount to $26 billion a year.

 

Sheila Katz, Chief Jewish Life Officer for Jewish Federations of North America, released the following statement:

 

"The Federal Scholarship Tax Credit creates an opportunity that has never existed before, allowing American taxpayers to help fund scholarships and educational support for children and families, and then receive those dollars back as a tax credit. For the Jewish community, this has the potential to make Jewish day school more affordable and will drastically increase access to Jewish education for generations to come.

 

We are grateful to the Treasury Department for regulations that help make this opportunity as accessible as possible, including the ability for joint filers to each claim the $1,700 credit, enabling married couples to donate up to $3,400 and receive a credit for that amount.  With the regulations now released, we urge every governor that has not yet opted in to take the steps necessary to participate. Families should not lose access to these important education scholarships simply because of where they live.

 

We are also proud that the Jewish community has come together to make it as easy and accessible for families and schools to access these scholarships. Jewish Federations, the Orthodox Union and its Teach Coalition, Prizmah, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Rabbinical Assembly, Torah Umesorah, Agudath Israel, and Chabad have endorsed one shared National Scholarship Granting organization for Jewish day schools, The Opportunity Fund for Jewish Education, to support the efforts of every community and school to maximize the availability of scholarships and expand access to Jewish education.

 

We encourage community members to ask their Jewish Federation, synagogues and schools how they can participate in this historic opportunity to support Jewish education."

 

For more information, visit https://jewishopportunity.org.