The Federal Scholarship Tax Credit – What You Need to Know

Let me introduce you to three letters you are going to hear a great deal about in the months ahead: SGO. If they mean nothing to you today, they soon will. SGO stands for Scholarship Granting Organization — and thanks to a change in federal law, Mississippi is about to see a whole network of them spring up, channeling tens of millions of dollars into Mississippi schools. This is about to become a big deal.

Here is how it works

Every year, you — like millions of Mississippi taxpayers — send a chunk of your income to the IRS. Thanks to the new federal tax credit, you can choose to redirect $1,700 of it to a local SGO, rather than give it to Washington. You get to decide where that slice of your own tax dollars go. The SGO then uses the money you give it to fund places at local schools.

This ought not to be a hard sell

Yesterday I sat and listened to the inspirational T. Mac Howard, Founder and Head of School for Delta Streets Academy in Greenwood talking about the work his team is doing to extend education opportunities in the Delta. As I did so, I was struck by a simple thought: would you rather give $1,700 of your tax dollars to the federal government, or give it to provide a classical or Christian education to young people in our state?

Mississippi is well placed to seize it. It's not just Delta Streets, but Redeemer's, Vineyard — in fact, we have dozens of other non-government schools spread across our state.

I think we are about to see a flurry of activity to set up SGOs — and rightly so. And it will be the Governor, Tate Reeves, who decides which organizations that apply to become SGOs get designation. Choosing a strong slate of SGOs could prove to be one of the most consequential decisions of Gov Reeves' entire time in office, if it helps lay the foundations for change.

A rare opportunity

Here at MCPP, our job is to make sure Mississippians understand this opportunity — and seize it. So at our education freedom website, CompareMySchool.com, we have a plain-English guide to the tax credit — and a fact sheet you can download, print, and share. We will even host the definitive Mississippi SGO Index: a register of every approved local SGO, rated against key metrics, so taxpayers can act with confidence and parents can see their options at a glance.

We've built the definitive guide to SGOs: CompareMySchool.com/sgos

This is a rare opportunity. Let us make the most of it.