Examining the Geographic Eligibility Component of the MO Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program

House Bill 349 creates the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) tax-credit scholarship program for Missouri’s public school students. ESA scholarships can be applied to educational expenses including private school tuition and other services.

• Program eligibility is first determined by where a student lives (if they live in a charter county or a city with a population of 30,000 or more), then through disability status and family income.

• The four qualifying counties and their bordering non-qualifying counties share similar demographic characteristics, while some non-qualifying border counties exhibit lower median incomes, lower educational attainment, and higher shares of students in poverty.

• Cities above and just below the required population threshold had a similar percent of students in poverty.

• Counties with the highest rates of poverty are not eligible for the ESA.