Three things set your number: your household income relative to 250% of the poverty level, whether your child has an IEP or other IDEA disability, and whether your child was already in the old Louisiana Scholarship Program at the same school. Tuition at Baton Rouge parish elementary schools often sits near the $5,243 to $7,626 range, especially at the parishioner rate. At the large college-prep campuses the account is a discount, not a full ride.
The rules, briefly
- Who can apply
Louisiana residents at least 5 and no older than 21 by September 30. Funding is limited, so awards go in priority order: current participants; students with an IDEA disability or a household at or below 250% of the federal poverty level ($80,375 for a family of four); siblings of current participants; then everyone else, by application time.
- How much
For 2026-27: $5,243 for most students, $7,626 at or below 250% of the poverty level, and up to $15,253 for students with a disability under IDEA, tiered by need and income. Former Louisiana Scholarship Program students who stay at the same school keep their 2024-25 amount until they finish that school's last grade.
- What it pays for
Tuition and fees at BESE-approved nonpublic schools; nonpublic online learning programs; curriculum, textbooks and instructional materials; tutoring; therapies from licensed providers (speech, occupational, physical, behavioral, audiology); testing fees, including AP and college admissions tests; dual enrollment; career and technical courses; school-day uniforms bought through a participating school; and academic summer and before- or after-school programs. Purchases go through the Odyssey platform. Our guide to what LA GATOR pays for lists the caps.
- How you apply
Through the Odyssey portal during the spring window. For 2026-27 it ran March 1 to March 16, 2026. Returning students must renew in that window or lose eligibility. New applicants who aren't funded go on a waitlist and can be awarded as seats open.
- How money moves
Awards are deposited into the student's Odyssey account quarterly, roughly a quarter of the year's amount each time. Schools are paid through the platform; families buy approved items and services in the Odyssey marketplace.
- Funding
The Legislature sets funding each year. For 2026-27 it held the program at about $43.5 million and did not add the proposed expansion, while 17,848 students applied and 16,993 were found eligible. Expect a waitlist for new applicants.
Stacking with Tuition Donation Credit scholarships
Louisiana's older scholarship route still runs alongside LA GATOR. Donors get a state tax credit for giving to a school tuition organization (STO), and STOs award scholarships to students from families at or below 250% of the poverty level who were in public school or are entering kindergarten, or who already had a state scholarship. The four STOs listed by the state are ACE Scholarships, Arete Scholars, Aspiring Scholars and Son of a Saint.
Under Act 403 (SB 27) the two stack. LA GATOR pays tuition and mandatory fees first, the STO scholarship covers the remainder, and the combined total can't exceed the school's actual tuition and fees. If LA GATOR alone covers the bill, the family declines the STO award. 42 schools in our directory were on the 2024-25 Tuition Donation Credit list.
The biggest approved schools in the area
| School | City | Grades | K-12 students |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph's Academy | Baton Rouge | 9-12 | 1,128 |
| Catholic High School | Baton Rouge | 8-12 | 1,109 |
| St. Aloysius School | Baton Rouge | PK-8 | 1,042 |
| Parkview Baptist School | Baton Rouge | PK-12 | 1,000 |
| St. George School | Baton Rouge | PK-8 | 999 |
| Episcopal High School | Baton Rouge | PK-12 | 904 |
| Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School | Baton Rouge | PK-8 | 862 |
| Oak Forest Academy | Amite | PK-12 | 726 |
Source: LDOE 2025-26 BESE-approved nonpublic schools list. All 78 local schools →
Other money for the balance
School-based aid comes first: parishioner rates, sibling discounts and need-based assistance. Louisiana also has a state income tax deduction for nonpublic school tuition, required fees, uniforms and required materials; check the current cap with the Louisiana Department of Revenue. From January 1, 2027, the new federal Education Freedom Tax Credit funds scholarships through approved scholarship-granting organizations, and Governor Landry opted Louisiana in on December 17, 2025. Louisiana's list of those organizations hasn't been published yet. Our partner scholarship for church-run schools has terms pending.