Missouri: Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program

Private donors fund this program by donating to Educational Assistance Organizations (EAOs) and receiving tax credits for their donations, up to certain limits. EAOs determine ESA amounts, with a typical maximum limit of the annual state adequacy target, which is about 50% of average total per-pupil funding in Missouri.

• Income Limit: 300% x FRL threshold for non-special needs students; no income limit for students with IEP, priority for 100 x FRL
• Prior Year Public School Requirement: Yes, With Exceptions
• Testing Mandates: State test or nationally norm-referenced tests
• Special Needs Pathway: Priority

A student must be a legal resident of Missouri and meet one of the following criteria:

1. Have an approved Individualized Education Plan (IEP) developed under the federal individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. Section 1400
2. Be from a family whose income does not exceed 300% of the standard used to qualify for Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRL) participation

Students qualifying under the second criteria must also have attended public school as a full-time student for at least one semester during the previous 12 months, be eligible to start kindergarten or the first grade, or be a sibling of a qualified student who received a scholarship grant in the previous school year and will receive a scholarship in the current school year.

Once enrolled in the program, students remain eligible for the ESA until withdrawing from school or graduating high school.

Parents and students identify and contact a certified EAO partnering with the school the student wishes to attend. EAOs are responsible for prescreening students for eligibility, and then providing access to the online MOScholars application. A list of certified EAOs can be found here.

Students may use Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) for the following:

• Private school tuition fees
• Textbooks
• Educational therapies
• Tutoring services
• Curriculum
• Virtual School tuition
• Standardized tests
• Public school classes
• Extracurricular activities
• Certain approved computer hardware and technological devices
• Summer Education programs
• After-school programs
• Transportation to and from school

For all subsequent school years after the 2024-2025 school year, any unused funds in a student’s ESA at the end of the school year stay in the student’s account and are not returned to the EAO or transferred to the state board. These funds continue to be available for the student’s future qualified educational expenses, such as in the next school year, as long as the student remains in the program.

Additional Program Guidelines

• Enrollment Cap: None
• Account Deposit Cap (Max): $6,375; $7,650 (FRL eligible); $11,156 (Students with an IEP)
• Credit Value: 100%
• Per Donor Credit Cap: 50% of Taxpayer’s Liability
• Total Tax Credit Cap: $75 million

Participant and Family Guidelines

• Education Requirements: Ensure qualified student enrolls in a qualified school and receive an education in at least the subjects of English language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science
• Parent Supplemented Funds/Scholarships: Allowed
• Miscellaneous: Except for a qualified student who is in the custody of the state, the qualified student shall not be enrolled in a public school operated by, or a charter school located within, the qualified student’s district of residence, and shall release the district of residence from all obligations to educate the qualified student while the qualified student is enrolled in the program

Education Provider Guidelines

• Accreditation/Approval: N/A
• Employment Standards: State may refuse hiring someone with a criminal conviction
• Nondiscrimination: Federal
• Calendar/Curriculum/Attendance: N/A
• Financial:

• Surety bond for donations >$50,000, annual audit
• Spend <10% of revenue on non-scholarship expenses

• Miscellaneous: N/A

Educational Assistance Organizations (EAO) Requirements

• Scholarship to Contribution Ratio: Spend at least 90% on scholarships
• State Reporting:

• Report test results, high school graduation, college attendance and college graduation for participating students, and aggregate data by grade level, gender, family income level, and race to the state treasurer, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the board

• Financial:

• Provide a state treasurer approved receipt to taxpayers for contributions made to the organization
• Demonstrate financial viability if receiving donations of fifty thousand dollars or more during a school year by either securing a surety bond equal to the aggregate number of contributions expected or providing other financial information to demonstrate viability
• Conduct annual audits by CPA

• Award Priority: Existing scholarship students, siblings of scholarships students, students with an IEP under IDEA, students with a dyslexia diagnosis, according to income based using the free and reduced lunch scale
• Miscellaneous:

• Follow statutory limits on marketing and administrative expenses
• Distribute scholarship account payments four times per year or at the beginning of the year as requested by the parent
• Conduct criminal background checks on all employees and board members
• Conduct and report on an annual parental satisfaction survey
• Ensure participating students take the state achievement tests or nationally norm-referenced tests as required
• No more than 10 EAOs in any one single year may be certified to administer scholarship accounts

(Last updated July 15, 2024)

Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 135.712–14; 135.716; 135.719; 166.700; 166.705; 166.710; 166.715; and 166.720

(Last updated April 21, 2025)