Private School Tuition Assistance Phoenix

Did you know Arizona has a tax credit program that helps families offset the cost of private school education? This tax credit program allows families to find the learning environment that best fits their child’s needs while removing the financial obstacle. The program allows Arizona taxpayers to contribute a portion of their Arizona tax liability to a School Tuition Organization (STO) and take a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on their state income tax return. To utilize this program, all you have to do is simply apply to a STO and solicit donations to that STO from anyone with an Arizona tax liability, encouraging them to recommend your child as the beneficiary. Once awarded, the recommended funds are sent to Summit School monthly helping to pay your tuition. This is such a win-win situation because donors have a choice in how their state tax dollars are spent which means you have a choice to send your child to Summit School. Since the donors get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit, that means if they owe $500 in taxes to Arizona and make a $500 contribution to a STO, their tax liability is now $0. Learn more by watching the video below!

Additional School Tuition Organizations (STO)

The Empowerment Scholarship Account, ESA is student allocated AZ public school dollars available to students who attend a private school in Arizona. ESA also provides for educational therapies, tutoring and more for eligible students.

Application Process:
Any student enrolled in K-12 private school may apply for an ESA award for the school year by completing an application at https://www.azed.gov/esa. Once your application is approved you will receive an ESA contract from the AZ Department of Education. All Summit families are required to send a copy of their signed ESA contract for each of their students to the Summit School business office within a week of signing their ESA contract. Please forward signed ESA contracts to Carrie.Slade@Summitschoolaz.org. Parents are responsible for reading the ESA Annual parent handbook located on the ESA Website https://www.azed.gov/esa.

ESA Funds Disbursement:
ESA currently uses Class Wallet to fund each student’s ESA Award. Shortly after signing an ESA contract, the parent will be notified of their Class Wallet account. Parents can then link their Class Wallet account to their bank account. Class Wallet will fund accounts in 4 equal payments, mid-month in July, October, January, and April. Summit School requests all families receiving ESA funds to continue paying their tuition in FACTS according to their selected payment plan. Once Class Wallet accounts are funded 4 times per yers, parents will seek reimbursement to themselves for paid tuition by uploading a Summit or FACTS payment receipt to their Class Wallet account and requesting reimbursement directly to their own bank account. Please contact the Summit School business office when you need a receipt or visit your FACTS tuition account.

ESA Funds and Tax Credits don’t mix:
Please note that per state law, a student utilizing ESA funds cannot use AZ Private School Tax credit funds in the same school year. However, parents may continue to collect and bank tax credits for their students and use the tax credits in a future year.

ESA Website with More Information:
Please visit the Arizona Department of Education’s ESA Website https://www.azed.gov/esa for questions about the ESA application process, funding, and updated information. You may submit
questions through their ESA Help Desk link there, call the ESA Support Line at 602-364-1969 or email their staff at esacallcenter@azed.gov

Summit School actively seeks students with academic promise and a range of talents, skills and interests to apply for admission. Summit School is committed to providing assistance to families with demonstrated financial need. Our Tuition Assistance program and the Arizona Tax Credit Scholarships make a Summit education more affordable for current and newly enrolled families who demonstrate need.

Tuition Assistance for Grades K-8: FAQ

Q. What is FACTS?

FACTS is the nation’s leading provider of tuition management, grant and aid assessment and school payment processing for private schools. Summit School uses FACTS Tuition Management for collection of tuition and fees and FACTS Grant and Aid to verify financial need in the financial aid process.

Q. When can I apply for Tuition Assistance? When will I learn about my award?

Once your child has been offered enrollment from Summit School, you may complete the FACTS Grant and Aid Application prior to completing your enrollment packet, but your application will not be reviewed until your enrollment and payment have been received. The Summit School Tuition Assistance Committee will review completed applications on a rolling basis. Applications received after April 30 each school year will be considered dependent upon available remaining funding.

Q. How do I apply for Tuition Assistance?

Click here for the Summit Tuition Assistance

Q. I am a Summit parent. Do I have to re-apply annually for Tuition Assistance?

Yes. Parents must re-apply for Tuition Assistance each year, as financial circumstances may change from year to year. If you completed an application previously and remember your user name and password, the demographics will auto-populate but no financial information will populate. Otherwise, you may start over with a new application each year.

Q. What do I do once I have been awarded Tuition Assistance?

If the award is accepted, the family must complete the Institute for Better Education (IBE) application for the upcoming school year that is released each February by visiting www.ibescholarships.org. Summit School funds student tuition assistance awards from AZ Private School tax credit contributions made by parents and community members on behalf of Summit School. Summit strongly encourages families to solicit tax credit donations on behalf of their child(ren) thru any of the Student Tuition Organizations (STO), such as IBE. Tax credit awards assist parents in funding remaining tuition that may be due.Prior to the start of the school year for the student, if your student doesn’t receive an award or the award is not sufficient, the $700 payment will be refunded via check after the tuition assistance award is declined by the accept/decline due date of the award email and a letter of student withdrawal is provided to the Director of Admissions. No refunds will be honored after accept/decline due date stated in the award email and no refund of the $700 enrollment payment is eligible for students who have already started the current school year at Summit School or have been enrolled for more than 2 weeks.

Preschool Scholarships

Summit School preschool program selected to partner with Quality First (QF) to offer scholarships that make high quality preschool a reality for more families. Summit has been rated a 5 star program by Quality First, which is their highest recognition.

Education is the gift that lasts forever. Summit School NAEYC accredited preschool is proud to have been chosen to partner with Quality First and the Arizona Department of Education. Through these programs Summit is able to offer a limited number of preschool scholarships to qualified families. Quality First typically notifies Summit School of available scholarships in May for the following school year.

Qualifying families are responsible to pay the tuition not covered by the scholarship, and for before and after school programming, if needed. Quality First also requires regular student attendance to retain the scholarship.

Preschool quality First Scholarship FAQ

Q. What is the scholarship qualification process?

To qualify for a Quality First Preschool Scholarship, a family’s current gross income must not exceed the state mandated limits shown on the Quality First Application. The application below is for the 2021-22 school year only. At this time, we do not have any more Quality First Preschool Scholarships available for the 2020-21 school year. In May 2021, we will find out if we have any Quality First Preschool Scholarships for the 2021-22 school year.

FY20-Family-Application-English

Q. How do I apply for a Quality First Preschool Scholarship?

At this time, we do not have any more Quality First Preschool Scholarships available for the 2020-21 school year. In May 2021, we will find out if we have any Quality First Preschool Scholarships for the 2021-22 school year.

Families applying for a Quality First Preschool Scholarship must complete a scholarship application and submit the necessary supporting documents directly to the Summit School Admissions Office. A scholarship application will not be reviewed until all required documents, as stated in the Quality First application, are submitted.

Q. What happens after I qualify for a Quality First Scholarship?

The next step is to apply to Summit School. Please follow the steps outlined in our Admissions Process.

If your child is offered enrollment to Summit, and you choose to accept, you will then complete an enrollment packet, submit a non-refundable enrollment payment of $400 which is applied toward the total tuition owed, select a payment plan, and sign a Quality First Scholarship award letter.

Q. To whom do I turn to if I have questions about the process?

Summit School’s Director of Admissions may be reached at 480-403-9506 or Admissions@SummitSchoolAZ.org.