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Colorado-based nonprofit ACE Scholarships, which uses private donations to help low-income students enroll in private schools, will expand its programming to all 50 states and will serve students also attending public schools, charter schools and homeschooling programs, the organization announced Thursday.
The explosion across the country comes as the federal government prepares to debut a controversial tax credit scholarship program next year, with plans to give scholarships to students at public and private schools to cover the costs of critical learning resources and services.
ACE Scholarships, founded in 2000, has operated in 13 states with a home base in Greenwood Village and this year has distributed nearly 17,000 scholarships across those states. The organization is fully leaning into the new Education Freedom Tax Credit program, focused on helping families send their child to a school where tuition costs are out of reach and afford add-ons for their child’s education that might come with a hefty price.
That includes tutoring, after-school programs, books, supplies, school fees, transportation, technology, internet access and additional support for students with disabilities.
“It helps subsidize services that these families normally couldn’t have access to or, in some cases, if I wanted to send my kid to a private school, but I couldn’t afford it, now maybe I could,” ACE Scholarships president Jason DiFraia told The Colorado Sun. “And so it really opens up the door for families to have more choices for their child.”
The Trump administration program, set to begin Jan. 1, will give taxpayers who make a donation to scholarship granting organizations a federal tax credit of up to $1,700 — $3,400 in a two-income household. Those organizations must use the money they receive to fund scholarships for students at public and private schools. Scholarships will cater to a broad range of students, including students from affluent households that earn 300% of their area’s median income.
Gov. Jared Polis eagerly signed up Colorado for the program earlier this year, saying if Colorado did not join the program, donations from Colorado taxpayers taking advantage of the federal tax credit would flow to other states.
The program has drawn fierce backlash from public school advocates and many Democrats, who believe offering federal tax credits in exchange for scholarships that can benefit kids in private schools is a covert attempt among the federal administration to establish a voucher program.
Voucher programs, which Colorado voters have voted against at least three times, involve routing public funds to private schools, including those with a religious affiliation.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is also the Democratic candidate for the state’s next governor, has been steadfast in his opposition to Colorado’s participation. He called the Education Freedom Tax Credit program a “de facto voucher program.”
“I have real concerns about what could happen, the risk of this essentially hollowing out funding for education,” Weiser told The Sun. “The question that we’re going to have to take a look at is, are public schools benefiting in a reasonable way or is this really a program that’s only benefiting private schools? And that’s been my concern and it still is a concern.”
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A few organizations aiming to dole out scholarships to Colorado public school students have already formed, including the Colorado Public Schools Foundation, Denver Public Schools Foundation Opportunity Fund and Learn Everywhere Fund.
DiFraia, of ACE Scholarships, said he understands the pushback, but he disagrees with the idea that the federal program will sprout a voucher program.
The money is coming from donations made to scholarship granting organizations, he said, adding that “it’s not a federal government handout.”
ACE Scholarships — which hands out scholarships that on average total $3,500 and often cover a third or half of a student’s private school tuition — began envisioning a nationwide expansion more than a year ago and developed a technology platform to distribute a high volume of scholarships to students across the country, according to DiFraia.
The nonprofit rolled out a pilot program, partnering with at least two schools in every state and supporting at least 10 students in every state, following federal requirements of the new program. ACE Scholarships funded scholarships for students attending private schools with private money and was able to operate its organization with 90% of dollars going directly to benefit students and the remaining 10% covering administration and overhead costs — which are also federal rules under the new program.
The effort was essentially one big experiment testing the nonprofit’s ability to make scholarships available in every state, DiFraia said, and it has primed the organization to be ready for business once the new program takes off next year.
ACE Scholarship’s automated platform — which it plans to give school districts, dioceses, community organizations, donors and other scholarship granting organizations free access to — has become something of a hub. Using the platform, students can apply for a scholarship and purchase the materials and services they need using their scholarship dollars. Donors, meanwhile, can turn to the platform to make a contribution that will qualify them for a federal tax credit.
The nonprofit has also taken steps to make sure students from all kinds of backgrounds can secure scholarships, designing its platform to accommodate families who speak one of 90 languages. By the end of 2027, ACE Scholarships will have a team of more than 120 staff members assisting families, donors and schools across the country and answering their questions in the languages they speak, DiFraia said.
“We’re trying to eliminate these barriers to entry for any family in really thinking through, what do we want that customer experience to be?” he said. “And we built a system around that. That’s going to be critical for this program as we move forward.”
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