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Stacking LA GATOR, an STO scholarship and school aid in north Louisiana

The four layers of private school money, the order they apply in, and the 16 schools in these six parishes that were on the state's 2024-25 STO list.

In New Orleans, stacking is a necessity: the award covers a third of a high school bill and the rest has to come from somewhere. In Shreveport-Bossier, stacking is usually the difference between a small balance and no balance at all. Same mechanics, much shorter distance to cover. Here is the order the money applies in, and which local schools are set up for the second layer.

Layer 1: the account

$5,243, $7,626 or up to $15,253, paid to the school through Odyssey against tuition and required fees. By law it applies first. Nothing else in the stack can be calculated until this number is known, which is why schools ask for your award letter.

Layer 2: an STO scholarship

Louisiana's Tuition Donation Credit program funds school tuition organizations with tax-credited donations, and those organizations award scholarships to families. You qualify with household income at or below 250% of the federal poverty level ($80,375 for a family of four) if your child was in public school, is entering kindergarten, or already held a state scholarship. Awards are capped at the lesser of tuition and fees or 80% of the state per-pupil amount for grades K-8, and 90% for high school. Under Act 403 the STO award is added after LA GATOR, and the two together cannot exceed the school's actual tuition and fees, which in this market is a real ceiling rather than a theoretical one: at a school charging $7,000, the two awards can simply run out of bill to pay.

Each organization runs its own application, on its own calendar, with a fixed pot of money. Apply in the spring and apply to more than one.

Layer 3: the school's own aid

This is where north Louisiana differs most from the south. There is no large diocesan tuition assistance fund here of the kind the New Orleans archdiocese operates, because the Catholic sector is three schools. What exists instead is school-by-school: parishioner rates at the two Catholic elementary schools, church-member and staff discounts at the Christian schools, need-based aid at the independent schools through FACTS or a similar service, and sibling discounts almost everywhere. Ask every school the same question, because the answer moves your balance more than anything else on this page: do you apply the account before or after you calculate our aid?

Layer 4: the tax deduction, and the 2027 credit

Louisiana allows a state income tax deduction for nonpublic tuition, fees, uniforms and required supplies. Check the current cap with the Department of Revenue, because it has changed and it applies to what you paid out of pocket, not to what the account paid. From the 2027 tax year the federal Education Freedom scholarship tax credit will fund scholarships through approved scholarship-granting organizations; Louisiana opted in on December 17, 2025, and the list of organizations is still pending.

The 16 local schools on the 2024-25 STO list

Shreveport

Bossier City & Barksdale

Minden & Webster Parish

Source: LDOE, Tuition Donation Credit Program 2024-2025 Participating Nonpublic Schools. Participation is decided year by year, so confirm it with the school.

A worked order of operations

  1. Apply for LA GATOR in the spring window, before you have chosen a school.
  2. Apply to two or three STOs with the same income documentation.
  3. Ask each school for its all-in cost including fees, and for its aid application.
  4. When the award letter arrives, take it to the school and ask for the balance in writing.
  5. If there is still a gap, ask about a payment plan across the four deposit quarters rather than a single bill.

See what your family's account would cover here

Five questions, no documents. An advisor calls back with the amount you are likely to get, which Shreveport-Bossier schools take it, and what covers the rest.

Start the funding check →