Arizona added the switcher credit (Form 348) in 2012. A donor can only use it after giving the full original-credit amount, which is why STOs often market the two together: for tax year 2026, a married couple can direct up to $3,131 in total, $1,570 under the original credit and $1,561 under the switcher credit.
The scholarships funded this way are meant for students changing sectors. Qualifying conditions include transferring from an Arizona public school, entering private kindergarten, being the child of a service member stationed in Arizona, coming from homeschool, moving in from another state, and leaving the ESA program. There is no income test for the switcher pool.
That last condition is the one Valley families overlook. A child who leaves the ESA, for example because the family decides a parish school's STO aid will go further than the account, may then qualify for switcher scholarships. A Luke Air Force Base family that has just arrived on orders qualifies through the military condition.
In fiscal 2025, Arizona donors gave $47.3 million under the switcher credit and STOs paid $37.2 million in switcher scholarships to 17,747 students. The pool is smaller than the original credit, so apply through every STO that lists your school and say plainly which condition your child meets.
Combining it with other sources
This source works alongside a school's own discounts and payment plans. The one hard limit in Arizona is that a child cannot hold an ESA and an STO scholarship in the same school year, so each child goes down one path, and siblings may go down different ones. Our funding check lays out the choice for each child.