Aspiring Scholars turns state taxes into tuition

by Peter Finney Jr.

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

Death and taxes.

No one enjoys talking about either of those inevitabilities, but at least in the case of taxes, the state of Louisiana offers a painless way for families and businesses to direct their state tax liability to a tuition program that helps children from low-income families attend Catholic schools.

The program is called the Tuition Donation Credit Program, created by the state Legislature in 2012, which allows taxpayers to earmark their state tax dollars toward private education.

The Tuition Donation Credit Program provides a state income tax credit that gives taxpayers a direct credit toward their state taxes worth 95% of their donation to the program.

Catholic schools gateway

While there are several nonprofit organizations that work with the state to offer the credit, Aspiring Scholars, established in 2019, is the only entity that works exclusively with Catholic schools.

The program has grown exponentially in recent years. In the 2023-24 academic year, Aspiring Scholars provided scholarships to 46 students in 23 schools, and in 2024-25, 164 students in 22 schools will receive scholarships. The number of students applying for Aspiring Scholars scholarships has grown from about 200 a year ago to 700 this year.

And, the $1.6 million raised for the coming academic year is a hefty increase from last year and includes sizable donations from the Boh and Zuppardo families.

Helping needy families

Aspiring Scholars collaborates with the archdiocesan Catholic Community Foundation to distribute the money to Catholic schools participating in the program. Catholic schools use the funds from Aspiring Scholars to grant scholarships to students from low-income families, reducing the financial burden on the schools and expanding accessibility to Catholic education to more families.

Catholic schools also retain their admissions, curriculum and testing policies, said Julie Talbot, state director of Aspiring Scholars.

Talbot said the process is uncomplicated and can be used by any taxpayer, big or small. For example, if a taxpayer believes he or she will owe $1,000 in state taxes for the upcoming year, he or she will mail a check by Dec. 31 to Aspiring Scholars in that amount (or make the transaction online at www.aspiringscholars.org).

Within 60 days, the taxpayer will receive a tax credit certificate for $950 to file with his or her tax return. The remaining $50 qualifies as a normal charitable deduction.

The tax credit differs from a normal charitable deduction because it directly reduces what a taxpayer owes the state. If the taxpayer does not owe state taxes in the year the donation is made, the tax credit can be kept for future taxes for up to three years.

Word is getting out

Talbot believes the program will continue to grow as more Certified Public Accountants are aware of the benefits and share that information with their clients.

“You would be shocked at the number of CPAs that I still talk to who do not know about it,” Talbot said. “We get a lot of our donors from their CPAs telling them about it. I had one donor call me recently who said, ‘Hey, my CPA told me this is available.’ I was like, ‘Thank goodness, it’s finally working.”

For the Zuppardo family – Roy, Peter, Joey and Joseph – the decision to make individual donations totaling $262,000 to Aspiring Scholars was easy. The income from their grocery and real estate businesses was going to be subject to state taxes anyway, they figured, so why not direct that tax money toward tuition at specific Catholic schools, which were such a big part of their lives?

“Instead of paying these taxes to the state, you could designate that they go to the scholarship fund,” said Peter Zuppardo, a 1970 graduate of Jesuit High School. “The satisfaction for me was knowing that I now know where my state tax dollars are going. They’re going to where I told you to put them. The cynical people like me like the idea that I know this money’s going to Jesuit or St. Aug or Brother Martin. They’re getting it, and they let you divide it up among more than one school in whatever proportion you want. You know that your state tax dollars, instead of going to Baton Rouge to the slush fund, are now going where you want them to go.”

Cast a wider net

Brother Martin alumnus Joey Zuppardo said he was intrigued by the idea of helping a broader segment of the metropolitan New Orleans community.

“In reality, the tuition money is going to help the people of our community better their education,” Joey Zuppardo said. “Hopefully, that will mean that they get into a good college. That’s what I see as the real benefit.”

Roy Zuppardo, who attended St. Aloysius High School, emphasized how “easy this is on (donors) and doesn’t cost a whole lot of money (5%).”

Tuition money a godsend

Dr. RaeNell Houston, superintendent of archdiocesan Catholic schools, said the money helps defray the cost of tuition and fees for a student. Under state regulations, approximately $4,200 can be applied to elementary school tuition, and $4,800 can be applied to high school tuition.

“For high school, that covers about half their tuition, and we always encourage families to apply for additional assistance through their school,” Houston said. “Usually the school pitches in, and we also give some assistance through the Champions of Catholic Education Tuition Assistance Fund. Through those three entities, we typically cover, if not all, most of the tuition.”

Investing in children

The beauty of the program, Houston said, is that it fulfills a priority of the Catholic school system to make Catholic education more accessible to those who could not afford to go.

“It’s an investment in the children,” Houston said. “We are changing the trajectory of some of these children’s lives. Their families could not otherwise afford for them to be in a Catholic school. They are developing relationships; they’re going to a better high school; and they’re going to be better people because of it. So, we’re building an investment in our community.

“These are our future leaders, doctors and lawyers. We’re investing in the future, and they deserve that. The biggest thing for us is getting the word out. People still don’t know about it.”

Ronnie Dawson, a CPA and the former chair of the Catholic Community Foundation’s board of directors, said he personally began using the program two years ago.

“I’m taking the same dollars that I had withheld from my paycheck and giving those to Aspiring Scholars instead, minus the 5%, and I get the same exact state tax credit that I would get had I withheld the state taxes from my paycheck,” Dawson said.

It makes sense

For Dawson, it’s a wonderful exchange.

“For me, it was a no-brainer,” he said. “I’m swapping writing a check to the state government to writing a check to Aspiring Scholars – and I’m putting four or five or six kids into school that never would’ve had that opportunity. And, I’m getting the same tax credit on my tax return.”

Dawson does his personal tax return using TurboTax, and the only wrinkle is that the electronic filing platform does not allow a taxpayer to attach the certificate to the return.

“So, I just have to mail the certificate to the state once you file your return,” he said. “You can claim the credit on your return, but the state still wants a certificate as proof that you have the credit available to you.”

Dawson said that the beauty of the system is that people from all income levels can participate.

“There are some teachers in some of the Catholic schools who actually buy certificates in lieu of having their taxes withheld from them,” Dawson said. “It doesn’t matter how much you make. Somebody on a teacher’s salary can participate, while a millionaire can participate. It’s a fantastic program that’s just not very well known.”

For more information on Aspiring Scholars, contact Julie Talbot at [email protected].

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