1. What is an Educational Choice Scholarship?

The Ohio EdChoice Scholarship is a pilot program that will provide 14,000 state-funded scholarships to students who attend low-performing public schools. The scholarships can be used to attend private schools that meet state requirements for program participation.

2. When will EdChoice applications be accepted?

The application process begins February 1, 2010 thru April 16, 2010.

The first step is to apply for admission at a participating (EdChoice) private school. Parents of eligible students can and should start that process now.  Students must first be accepted at a participating private school for the next school year in order to apply for an EdChoice Scholarship.  School officials will help with the EdChoice application process.

3. Who is eligible to apply for EdChoice?

You can find a list of EdChoice-designated public school buildings on the EdChoice Web site http://EdChoice.ohio.gov. 

• Students currently enrolled in and attending a listed public school building in their resident district;

• Students currently enrolled in a public community school (charter school) who would otherwise be assigned by their public school district to one of these listed buildings.

• Students currently enrolled in a regular public school in their resident district or community school who would be assigned to attend one of the listed buildings for the upcoming school year.  This refers to students moving from elementary school to middle/junior high school or from middle/junior high school to high school; and

• Incoming students who are eligible to attend kindergarten in the fall of 2010 and who would be assigned by their public school district to one of these schools are eligible to apply.

**Students currently attending private schools and homeschooled students are not eligible.

4. What is the value of the scholarship?

The EdChoice Scholarship amount is currently $4,250 for elementary school students (kindergarten through Grade 8) and $5,000 for high school students (Grades 9 through 12) or the private school’s actual tuition amount, whichever is lower. The scholarship amount will increase slightly each school year

5. Will parents/guardians have to pay any amount of money?

Parents and guardians still may have to pay registration fees, material fees and other similar types of fees. The scholarship amount covers only school tuition.

If the private school’s tuition is higher than the EdChoice Scholarship amount and if the student’s family income is above 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, the family may have to pay the difference or participate in volunteer service activities in lieu of making an additional, out of pocket, cash payment to make up the difference in tuition.

6. If a student receives an EdChoice Scholarship, how long can he or she continue to attend a private school?

There will be a scholarship renewal process each year. Under current law, once a student receives an EdChoice Scholarship, he or she can renew the scholarship in future school years through 12th grade, as long as the student:

• Does not move to another public school district, unless the student would be assigned to an EdChoice-designated public school in the student's new district;

• Takes all required state achievement tests; and

• Has good school attendance. Students cannot have more than 20 unexcused absences in a school year.

7. Are current private school or homeschooled students eligible to apply?

No.

Students who are currently enrolled in private, nonpublic schools or who are homeschooled are not eligible for Ohio EdChoice Scholarships.

The EdChoice law limits scholarships to students currently attending a public school in Academic Watch or Academic Emergency for the past three years, to students enrolled in a publicly funded charter school who would otherwise be assigned to those schools, and to incoming kindergarten students who would be assigned to those schools.

8. Should parents and students apply for an EdChoice Scholarship first, or apply for admission to a private school first?

Parents & students should first apply for admission at a participating private school. All students who apply for an EdChoice Scholarship must have been accepted for enrollment at a participating private school. To ensure that students have been accepted for admission by a participating school, the private school staff will enter student information into the secure Web-based EdChoice application system.

9. Will every child who applies to participate be accepted?

Under current law, EdChoice Scholarships will awarded up to 14,000 students statewide.

There are no income requirements that determine eligibility for the EdChoice Scholarship program eligibility. Students at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines will receive first priority if ODE receives more applications than there are available scholarships.