BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Beginning with the 2025-26 school year, eligible Alabama K-12 students can apply for an education savings account, or ESA, made available through the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students’ Act.
Students who use an ESA cannot also use an Accountability Act tax credit scholarship and vice versa. The CHOOSE Act limits education expenses to $7,000 and the AAA allows up to a $10,000 maximum award per school year. Parents who are eligible under both sets of requirements will be able to make a choice, according to the CHOOSE legislation.
The Alabama Department of Revenue administers both programs and will have checks in place to ensure parents aren’t awarded both, according to a department spokesperson.
ADOR has released a proposed set of rules for the CHOOSE Act. A public hearing is set for next week offering citizens the ability to speak out about any questions or concerns about the rules before they are final.
Those new ESAs are capped at $7,000 per student attending a participating school and $2,000 for students who are homeschooled and are not enrolled in a participating school.
Stephen Bridgers, executive director of Scholarships for Kids, one of the scholarship granting organizations under the Accountability Act, said he said he expects there will be checks in place to ensure parents choose either CHOOSE or the AAA.
“We want parents…to be able to find whatever best serves their families – to where we can support them,” he said.
Eligibility for an ESA is tied to income for the first two years, but all students will be eligible for ESAs at the start of the 2027-28 school year. Lawmakers have set aside $100 million to fund ESAs.
Applications for ESAs open Jan. 2.