Evaluating Disbursements for the Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program [April 2022]

The Rundown with Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit

The Rundown with Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit
Evaluating Disbursements for the Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program [April 2022]
Apr 22, 2022
Legislative Post Audit

The Tax Credit for Low Income Student Scholarship program helps eligible students to attend private schools of their choice. Kansas law requires that 90% of contributions be disbursed as scholarships within 36 months. During the period from 2015-2021, scholarship granting organizations disbursed just over $9 million in scholarships of the $15.5 million in contributions they received. All but 2 scholarship granting organizations met the 90% distribution requirement during that time. Both organizations mentioned that a lack of eligible students caused them to fall short of the requirement. KSDE monitors scholarship granting organizations' compliance with state law at a high level, but their processes lack information to track the 90% distribution requirement.