The term “tuition” includes school-related fees charged by a Pre-Kindergarten Program, including a special education school. School-related fees shall include fees charged by a school to all students for books, instructional materials, technology equipment and services, uniforms and activities.
A school includes any public or nonpublic kindergarten, elementary school or secondary school at which the compulsory attendance requirements of the commonwealth may be met and which meets the applicable requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
A Pre-Kindergarten Program is a program of instruction for three-year-old to six-year-old students other than a kindergarten, operated by a school, or in conjunction with a school, located in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania that utilizes a curriculum aligned with the curriculum of the school with which it is affiliated, and which provides a minimum of two hours of instructional and developmental activities per day at least 60 days per school year. If a provider conducts a summer program it must offer a minimum of two hours of instructional and developmental activities per day for at least 20 days over the summer recess. A provider of a Pre-Kindergarten Program must demonstrate that it will operate an eligible program by receiving a letter (for sample, see School Registration under Resources above) from a school in which the school confirms that the curricular content and methods of instruction at the Pre-Kindergarten Program are consistent with those used at the school and that the Pre-Kindergarten Program has agreed to align its instructional and developmental activities so that its students would be prepared to enter the school’s kindergarten when and if they chose to do so. A copy of this letter must be submitted to the Department for each Pre-Kindergarten Program that the Pre-Kindergarten Scholarship Organizations want to provide scholarships for eligible children to attend.
A special education school is a school or program within a school that is designated specifically and exclusively for students with disabilities listed in Title 34 §300.8 (1) is licensed under the Private Academic Schools Act; (2) is accredited by an accrediting association approved by the State Board of Education; (3) is a school for the blind or deaf receiving commonwealth appropriations; or (4) is operated by or under the authority of a bona fide religious institution or by the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof.
An eligible student is a three to six years of age, including an eligible student with a disability, who is a resident of Pennsylvania, who is enrolled in a Pre-Kindergarten Program located in this commonwealth and who is a member of a household meeting the annual household income as outlined in the EITC Pre-Kindergarten Tax Credit Program Guidelines.
The amount of a scholarship paid to or on behalf of a student may not exceed the actual amount of tuition charged by the school in which the student is enrolled, nor exceed the actual amount of tuition charged by the school to non-scholarship students.
For considerations of an eligible student with a disability and income guidelines, please review the full DCED Guidelines
