PHOENIX, AZ (Sept 23, 2022) – Legislation detailing the universal expansion of the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) was recently signed to expand school choice options for Arizona families. The new ESA legislation allows parents to withdraw their children from public or charter schools and use 90% of the public-school funding allocated to their children for educational choice including private school tuition, curriculum, in-home education, tutoring, and more.

School Tuition Organizations (STOs) including Catholic Education Arizona (CEA) are non-profit organizations certified by the Arizona Department of Revenue to collect individual and corporate tax credit dollars for private school tuition scholarships. CEA, provides demonstrated need-based scholarships for 38 schools in Arizona, and uses an independent, third-part for eligibility and award calculation.

Scholarships offered by an STOs may cover more than an ESA in certain circumstances, which may result in a family to choose STO assistance, as an ESA and STO cannot be used at the same time. However, they can switch from one to another within the same school year without using them simultaneously.

Individuals and corporations continue to support the efforts of Catholic Education Arizona and The Diocese of Phoenix Catholic High Schools because of their impressive results:

  • 99.4% graduation rate
  • 97% of graduates matriculate to higher education, trade school or military service
  • 1000s of hours of community service are conducted annually

Corporations and LLCs filing as S Corps, C Corps, and Insurance Companies paying premium tax can direct up to 100% of their state tax liability to CEA through participation in the Arizona Low Income and Disabled/Displaced Corporate tax credits. Join APS, Cigna, Shea Homes, Ewing Irrigation Products, Meritage Homes, Earnhardt Auto Centers, Grand Canyon University, Lumen Technologies, Dignity Memorial and many small businesses making a difference and changing lives.

Catholic Education Arizona is the largest provider of scholarships to families attending Catholic schools. Since 1998, over $313 million has been raised to benefit students and 148,000 scholarships have been awarded. Learn more about how CEA is changing lives one scholarship at a time. Visit www.ceaz.org or call 602-218-6542.

Contact: Debra Preach, Chief Operating Officer
Catholic Education Arizona
dpreach@ceaz.org
(602) 218-6542