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🎓 Pennsylvania School Choice, ESAs & Scholarships

Which Pennsylvania education savings accounts, scholarships and tax credits a homeschool family can use, what they pay for, and where Pennsylvania stands on school choice — from our Pennsylvania guide.

Overseen by	Home education programs report to the superintendent of the school district of residence under 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1. The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) publishes the Home Education and Private Tutoring Guide (revised May 2026), sample affidavits, the approved test list and the diploma form, and recognizes diploma-granting organizations. No district approval is required to start (22 Pa. Code § 11.31a).
Start and renew: the affidavit	A notarized affidavit — or an unsworn declaration, signed under penalty of perjury instead of notarized — goes to the superintendent before the program begins, then by August 1 each school year (July 1–June 30). It names the supervisor and child, gives the program's address and phone, states the subjects will be taught in English, and attaches an outline of education objectives, immunization and health-services evidence, and a statement that no adult in the home has certain criminal convictions in the past five years.
Instruction required	180 days, or 900 hours (elementary, K–6) or 990 hours (secondary, 7–12) a year, in the subjects the law lists for each level. Compulsory ages are 6 to 18 (since the 2020–21 school year); kindergarten is not required.
Portfolio and evaluation	A portfolio with a log made at the time of instruction naming the reading materials, samples of the student's work and — in grades 3, 5 and 8 — reading and math results from the state tests or a PDE-approved nationally normed test. A qualified evaluator interviews the student, reviews the portfolio and certifies in writing whether an appropriate education is occurring; the supervisor sends the evaluation to the superintendent by June 30. The portfolio itself is not sent to the district.
Diplomas	Since October 31, 2014 (Act 196 of 2014), a supervisor-issued diploma on PDE's form (PDE 6008), co-signed by the twelfth-grade evaluator, or a diploma from a PDE-approved diploma-granting organization is state-recognized. Minimum courses in grades 9–12: four years of English, three of math, three of science, three of social studies and two of arts and humanities.
Homeschool funding	None. EITC and OSTC scholarships pay tuition and school-related fees at schools; an opportunity scholarship may not be awarded for enrollment in a home education program (Public School Code § 2009-B(c)). OSTC maximums for the 2025–26 school year: $8,500, or 5,000 for a student with a disability.
School choice status	As of November 2026, Pennsylvania has no ESA or voucher. It has the EITC and OSTC business tax-credit scholarships (statutory caps of $590 million and $90 million a fiscal year), public charter and cyber charter schools, and district dual enrollment. The 00 million PASS scholarship appropriation was line-item vetoed on August 3, 2023; the 2025 PASS and Lifeline bills (SB 10, HB 1489) have not passed. Pennsylvania is not on the IRS list of states taking part in the federal scholarship tax credit for 2027 (as of October 22, 2026).

Homeschooling in Pennsylvania: the basics

Cyber charter schools are public schools: PDE says cyber charter schools are public schools and are not homeschooling, and their diplomas are state-recognized. Private cyber schools and other "umbrella schools" (correspondence courses, private online providers) are not registered with PDE and don't lead to a state-recognized diploma; a family using one is homeschooling and must file the affidavit and the annual evaluation.

Read the full section in our Pennsylvania guide

Where Pennsylvania stands on school choice (November 2026)

What exists: two business tax-credit scholarship programs run through the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). Under the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC), businesses get tax credits for contributing to scholarship organizations, educational improvement organizations and pre-kindergarten scholarship organizations. Under the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC), contributions fund scholarships for students who live in the attendance area of a low-achieving public school — one in the bottom 15% on combined PSSA math and reading — to attend a nonpublic school or a public school outside their district. Families apply through an approved scholarship organization; DCED says OSTC families must work through an approved organization, not DCED.

Who qualifies and how much: DCED posts a household income limit of

22,322 plus

1,531 for each dependent member of the household for both programs. For the 2025–26 school year, the OSTC maximum award is $8,500, or

5,000 for a special education student.

Program size: as the Public School Code reads in November 2026, EITC credits for scholarship, educational improvement and pre-K organizations may not exceed $590 million in a fiscal year (Act 47 of 2025 amended this limit), with at least $375 million for scholarship organizations, at least $74.5 million for educational improvement organizations and no more than $30.5 million for pre-K scholarship organizations. OSTC credits may not exceed $90 million in a fiscal year. A business may receive a credit of 75% of its contribution, or 90% with a two-year commitment, up to $750,000 a taxable year.

Homeschool status: neither program pays homeschool costs. The statute defines a scholarship as an award to pay tuition and school-related fees to attend a school, and says an opportunity scholarship organization shall not award an opportunity scholarship to an applicant for enrollment in a home education program.

Public options: charter schools, cyber charter schools, career and technical schools and district online programs are public schools, free to families. Enrolling in one makes your child a public school student — it is not homeschooling.

What doesn't exist: Pennsylvania has no education savings account or voucher program. The 2023–24 budget included a

00 million appropriation for PASS scholarships; Governor Shapiro line-item vetoed the full amount when he signed the budget on August 3, 2023, after saying the House and Senate had not agreed on enabling legislation and that his administration could not legally implement the program without it.

Bills in the 2025–2026 session: SB 10 (Sen. Ward), the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) Scholarship Program, was reported from the Senate Education Committee on May 6, 2025 and was laid on the table on November 12, 2025, with no passage vote. HB 1489 (Rep. Owlett), the Lifeline Scholarship Program, was referred to the House Education Committee on May 21, 2025 with no further action. HB 2632 (Rep. Rivera), which would replace the EITC and OSTC with an Education Options Tax Credit from fiscal year 2027–28 at the same $680 million total cap, passed the House 105–97 on June 22, 2026 and was referred to the Senate Education Committee on June 26, 2026; the House fiscal note says its scholarship organizations could not provide a scholarship for a home-schooled student. HB 2623 (Rep. White), which includes "compliance with Federal tax credit," was referred to the House Education Committee on June 10, 2026.

The federal scholarship tax credit: from January 1, 2027, a taxpayer may claim a federal credit of up to

,700 ($3,400 if filing jointly) for cash gifts to a scholarship-granting organization — but only in states that choose to take part and send the IRS a list of organizations. Pennsylvania is not on the IRS list of participating states for 2027 (as of October 22, 2026). A May 2026 House co-sponsorship memo described the decision as one that currently rests with Governor Shapiro. We found no official decision from the Governor's office as of November 6, 2026.

What it means for homeschool families: no Pennsylvania program pays homeschool costs. What the law gives home-educated students is access — free loans of district curriculum, PSSA testing at the district, extracurricular activities and PIAA sports, district academic courses, cocurricular activities and career and technical education, and college dual-credit agreements. We make no prediction about 2027 legislation.

Read the full section in our Pennsylvania guide

Official sources

Summarized from our Pennsylvania guide (as of November 2026) and articles. Rules change — confirm on the official pages before you act.

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