Admissions » Scholarships
Scholarships
There are two main scholarships for private schools in Arizona: ESA and STOs. Both are explained below.
Note: A child cannot receive funding from both the ESA and STOs in the same school year. We can help you decide which scholarship would be the best fit for your family.
Make sure you designate “The Inspiration Academy” as the recommended school on the Arizona Tuition Connection form.
Empowerment Scholarship Account
The Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) is funded by the State of Arizona to help parents of a child with a disability pay for private school tuition. The amount of the ESA depends primarily on the child’s disability, as listed in the child’s Arizona public school IEP or MET report.
Donate Through The Arizona Tuition Connection
Make sure you designate “The Inspiration Academy” as the recommended school on the Arizona Tuition Connection form.
The Inspiration Academy is excited to partner with Arizona Tuition Connection and Scholarship Genie. They will assist families with their Student Tuition Organization (STO) applications for scholarships.
All students are eligible for the Original Tax-Credit Scholarship, but they might also qualify for other categories for additional funds. The categories are described below.
Student Tuition Organizations (STOs) receive tax credit donations from individuals and corporations to support scholarships for eligible students to cover private school tuition costs. There are four different programs under which STOs can award scholarships. A student may combine scholarships from the four different programs. The programs are briefly explained below.
The Original and Switcher/Overflow Tax Credit Scholarships are funded by donations from individual taxpayers. Any full-time student attending a qualified school is eligible for a scholarship under the Original program, while only students entering kindergarten or transferring from an Arizona public school are initially eligible for a Switcher/Overflow scholarship. The amount of these scholarships is not limited by the State and can cover the full tuition if enough donations are made.
The Low-Income Corporate Scholarship is funded by donations from corporations. A student may be eligible for a Low-Income Corporate scholarship if family income is less than 342.25% of the poverty level (e.g., $90,696 for a household of 4 in 2021-22) and the student is transferring from an Arizona public or charter school. The maximum amount of a Low-Income Corporate scholarship per STO in 2021-22 was $5,700 for a K-8 student and $7,000 for a high school student. A student may receive a low-income scholarship from more than one STO.
The Disabled/Displaced Scholarship is also funded by donations from corporations. In order to be eligible for a disabled/displaced scholarship, the student must have been identified as having a disability in an IEP, MET report, or 504 plan from an Arizona public school or must have been in Arizona’s foster care system. The maximum amount a student may receive in disabled/displaced scholarships is dependent on the student’s disability.
