Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization

Description

ACSTO was incorporated in 1998 for the sole purpose of implementing the Original private school tuition tax credit law that was enacted in 1997 as A.R.S. Section 43-1089; and now ACSTO also works with the Overflow/PLUS tuition tax credit law that was enacted in 2012 as A.R.S. Section 43-1089.03.

ACSTO exists to equip students with the opportunity to attend a private Christian school. As a 501(c)(3) tax exempt charitable organization, and a school tuition organization (STO) certified by the state, they have the privilege of transforming tax credit contributions into valuable tuition scholarships to help families afford a private education for their children.

At ACSTO, Christian private schools are their passion. It is hard to think of what could be better than seeing children raised up in an educational environment tailored to their needs and founded on Christian principles. That is why their mission, day in and day out, is to help these schools succeed.

This mission guides everything they do. From the values they have, to the projects they undertake, to the legislation they support, everything is geared toward increasing private Christian school enrollment and allowing more and more parents with the option/opportunity to choose a Christian education for their children.

History

Since it began in 1998, ACSTO has awarded over $125 million in scholarships to 25,000 students attending 150 Arizona Christian schools. Over 64,000 visionary Arizona taxpayers have made this possible by donating to ACSTO, and they were able to take advantage of Arizona’s unique opportunity to receive a dollar-for-dollar credit against their Arizona state income tax.

ACSTO awards more money than is required by tax credit law (over 90%) and has awarded a majority of its scholarship dollars to students who would meet the low-income means test, even though the law does not specify any particular demographic for who should receive them.