Ohio EdChoice
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All St. Mary students in grades K-8 are eligible to participate in the EdChoice program.
Families whose income is at or below 450% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines are eligible for a maximum EdChoice Scholarship of $6,166. All families whose income is above 450% of the Federal Poverty Guideline will be awarded a prorated scholarship amount. See the links below with the income guidelines and a general information sheet about the Expansion Program.
About EdChoice
Ohio’s Educational Choice (EdChoice) Scholarship program is accessible to ALL Ohioans! Thanks to sweeping changes outlined and signed into law by Governor DeWine, EVERY student now has the opportunity to attend a participating Catholic school for little or no cost.
Originally enacted in 2005 to serve families living in underperforming school districts, the program has been expanded multiple times over the past 19 years to aid more families, particularly those with lower incomes. But, now, every Ohio family – regardless of their residence or household income – can utilize state scholarship dollars to help fund tuition at the Catholic school of their choosing.
Once you complete the scholarship application and turn in to St. Mary’s, along with the supporting documents, we will submit the application to the State on your behalf. We will not submit until we have all necessary documentation as we do not want any delays in your scholarship approval
How to Apply
NEW APPLICATIONS: (New EdChoice Applicant or switching the type of EdChoice Scholarship between Traditional and Expansion)
If you have already received an EdChoice award (including those who attended a different private school last year), see renewal applications tab.
Please read through and follow the steps below to complete your scholarship application. We ask that all families complete the process by March 15, 2025. This gives us time to input all documents and address any missing information before the State of Ohio’s deadline. This will also allow us to add your scholarship award to your Tuition Statement. All steps must be completed for your application to be considered complete:
- Complete the EdChoice Request Form and sign. One is required for each student.
- Proof of Address–a utility bill showing both the service and billing address (no cell phone bills). Only one per family is needed.
- Copy of Each Child’s birth certificate (photo is acceptable). One is required for each child.
- Copy of custodial paperwork (if applicable). This is required for all multi-household families. We need the residential and custodial sections of the document noting the student’s name and the signature page. One is required for each child.
- Complete the OCS EdChoice Parent Check Deposit Consent form and physically sign. One is required for each student.
- All documents from this list, except the income forms, must be emailed as separate files to ceenab@stmarydelaware.org. Please indicate your student’s name and “2025-2026” in the subject with all the documents attached separately. If you have multiple children please send a separate email for each child. If ALL required documents are not attached, we will NOT be able to process your application.
STOP!
Do NOT move to the next step UNTIL you receive an email from St. Mary indicating your application has been submitted. Once received, proceed to the next step.
- Income verification: If you have already completed income verification for the 2024-2025 school year, you DO NOT need to complete this step. ODE will use the income from the 2024-2025 school year. Only submit income verification again if:
- Qualify for Low Income Status (your poverty level percentage fell below 200% or it will for the 2024 tax year)
- Income decreased for the 2024 tax year compared to 2023.
Income verification is done online through the ODE portal. https://safe.ode.state.oh.us/portal. The income document you should use is your 2024 Federal 1040 Form Page 1. Black out the first 5 digits of all social security numbers. Attached is more information, but this must be completed online via the link above. If you have dependent children over the age of 18, please email ceenab@stmarydelaware.org for instructions on how to add them to your household. Do NOT submit a copy of the income verification with your application. Only one income verification is necessary per family.
- Award Letter – Once awarded, you will receive an award letter in the mail. As soon as you receive your award letter, please sign and mark accept. Please scan a copy to ceenab@stmarydelaware.org. Please also send the original to the office to the attention of Ceena Baker. If this is received during the month of July when the office is closed, you can mail it to the school or wait until the office opens in August to turn it in. Without this signed acceptance letter, we cannot accept your award into the ODE system, and your scholarship will be removed from your tuition statement. All award letters must be received prior to the first day of school.
RENEWAL APPLICATIONS: (Everyone who received an EdChoice Scholarship for the 2024-2025 school year, unless applying for a different type of scholarship, Expansion versus Traditional)
Please read through and follow the steps below to complete your scholarship application. We ask that all families complete the process by March 15, 2025. This gives us time to input all documents and address any missing information before the State of Ohio’s deadline. This will also allow us to add your “estimated” scholarship award to your Tuition Statement. This estimate will be based on your 2024-2025 Poverty Level percentage calculated by ODE, as the scholarships will not be awarded by the state until after the 2024-2025 school year concludes. All steps must be completed for your application to be considered complete:
- Complete the EdChoice Renewal Request Form and sign. One is required for each student.
- Proof of Address–a utility bill showing both the service and billing address (no cell phone bills). Only one per family is needed.
- Copy of custodial paperwork (only needed if there were changes from the prior year). This is required for all multi-household families. We need the residential and custodial sections of the document noting the student’s name and the signature page. One is required for each child.
- Complete the OCS EdChoice Parent Check Deposit Consent form and physically sign. One is required for each student.
- All documents from this list must be emailed as separate files to ceenab@stmarydelaware.org. Please indicate your student’s name and “2025-2026” in the subject with all the documents attached separately. If you have multiple children please send a separate email for each child. If ALL required documents are not attached, we will NOT be able to process your application. If you are NEW to St. Mary and received the EdChoice Scholarship last year, please indicate this information on the email with all the attached documentation.
STOP!
Do not move to the next step UNTIL you receive an email from St. Mary indicating your application has been submitted.
Once the email is received, proceed to the next step if you intend to complete income verification again. This is NOT required!!
- Income Verification: Only complete income verification for the 2025-2026 school year if:
- You Qualify for Low Income Status (your poverty level percentage fell below 200% or it will for the 2023 tax year)
- Income decreased for the 2023 tax year compared to 2022.
Income verification (NOT REQUIRED IF COMPLETED PREVIOUSLY)–Done online through the ODE portal. https://safe.ode.state.oh.us/portal. The income document you should use is your 2023 Federal 1040 Form Page 1. Black out the first 5 digits of all social security numbers. If you have dependent children over the age of 18, please email ceenab@stmarydelaware.org for instructions on how to add them to your household. Attached is more information, but this must be completed online via the link above. Do NOT submit a copy of the income verification with your application. Only one income verification is necessary per family.
- Award Letter – Once awarded, you will receive an award letter in the mail. As soon as you receive your award letter, please sign and mark accept. Please scan a copy to ceenab@stmarydelaware.org. Please also send the original to the office to the attention of Ceena Baker. If this is received during the month of July when the office is closed, you can mail it to the school or wait until the office opens in August to turn it in. Without this signed acceptance letter, we cannot accept your award into the ODE system, and your scholarship will be removed from your tuition statement. All award letters must be received prior to the first day of school.
Have a Question?
FAQ
Now the State of Ohio will subsidize the education of every child at our parish school with scholarships ranging from $617 – $6,165 and allows us to use parishioner donations (which can fluctuate from year to year) for other parish and school expenses. But it’s not automatic! In order to maximize the EdChoice Scholarship benefit this year and for the years to come, families must apply for EdChoice and we must now express our tuition as a cost-based model.
The Emmaus Road Scholarship is an important part of our financial assistance, and will still be available for our school families. It serves as our 2nd line of defense once EdChoice scholarships have been applied to your child’s tuition. Therefore, Emmaus Road is geared toward reduction in cost of tuition assistance provided by the Parish General Operating Budget.