Opting into the EFTC for Colorado Charter Schools
Colorado has opted into the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit (EFTC) scholarship opportunity, which goes into effect on January 1, 2027.
The League is formally partnering with ACE Scholarships to serve as the designated Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) for Colorado charter schools. We believe this presents a significant opportunity for schools to partner with one of the country's leading SGOs and receive marketing and fundraising collateral, national expertise, and League-facilitated technical assistance so that you can maximize your donor outreach and support your students and families in accessing scholarships. We're excited to kick off this partnership and prepare schools for onboarding.
We invite you to join the League’s SGO partnership. To do so, please click on the link below and let us know if you’re planning to participate and if you would like to opt into our partnership.
If you plan to participate, please respond here.
Once you complete the response form, we'll follow up by email with a sub-agreement between the League and your school for signature. If you have any questions about this opportunity, ACE as an SGO, or the sub-agreement, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Eric Lerum at [email protected].
As a reminder, through your partnership, the League is providing targeted support to accelerate charter schools’ participation and maximize benefits for your students and families.
We have engaged Eric Lerum, a former CSI board member and Colorado-based education policy consultant, to work directly with schools and provide a variety of tools and supports, including:
- A step-by-step guide for participation in the EFTC
- Support with school community engagement
- Templates for fundraising and marketing plans
- How-to collateral and execution support for families in accessing scholarships
About the EFTC:
Beginning January 1, 2027, the EFTC allows individual taxpayers to receive a dollar-for-dollar federal income tax credit of up to $1,700 (up to $3,400 for married households filing jointly) for charitable contributions to qualifying Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs). SGOs are dedicated 501(c)(3) nonprofits that receive these donations and use them to award scholarships to eligible K-12 students — including students attending charter schools. Students are eligible if their household income does not exceed 300% of area median gross income. Schools will partner with SGOs to offer scholarships for specific educational opportunities to students at their schools.
Students can use these funds for a broad variety of educational uses: out-of-school enrichment and tutoring (helping to close gaps for underserved populations), special education services, transportation, technology, dual enrollment courses, career training, and numerous other educational supports.
