Student Eligibility

In 2013, the Georgia General Assembly modified the QEE Credit Program’s student eligibility rules in some important ways. Now, students must meet one of several tests in order to be eligible for a QEE Credit scholarship.

Most students from the second grade forward must have attended a Georgia primary or secondary school for at least six weeks immediately prior to receiving a scholarship. The attendance requirement does not apply to students who are entering pre-kindergarten, kindergarten or first grade; they only have to be eligible to enroll in such a program. It also does not apply to students who have previously been the recipient of scholarships through this program.

The 2013 changes to the law also establish certain exceptions to the attendance requirement. Under the revised law, Tuition Tax Credit Scholarships may be granted to students who, regardless of their attendance status:

• Would be assigned to a public school that the Office of Student Achievement determines to be a low-performing school;
• Have been the subject of “officially documented cases of school based physical violence or student related verbal abuse threatening physical harm”, or
• Who was enrolled in a home study program meeting state legal requirements for at least one year immediately prior to receiving a scholarship or tuition grant.