CHOOSE Act Income Limit: Who Qualifies and When the Cap Disappears

The 300% FPL Rule

For the 2025–2026 and 2026–2027 school years, household adjusted gross income must be at or below 300% of the applicable Federal Poverty Level. For 2026–2027, the threshold is $96,450 for a household of four under the 2025 guideline, and ALDOR used 2025 tax-year AGI.

ALDOR uses your AGI from your federal tax return — not your gross income, not your take-home pay. Deductions for retirement contributions, HSA deposits, and student loan interest all reduce your AGI, which means a family earning $100,000 gross might still qualify after above-the-line deductions.

The tax year that counts depends on the program cycle. For 2026–2027, ALDOR used 2025 tax-year AGI.

How to Check Your FPL Percentage

Take your household AGI and divide it by the Federal Poverty Level for your family size. Multiply by 100.

Use the Federal Poverty Level figure for your household size and the guideline year that applies to the program cycle, then multiply by three to calculate the 300% threshold. For 2026–2027, compare that threshold with the household AGI ALDOR determined from 2025 tax-year information.

When the Income Cap Goes Away

Starting with the 2027–2028 school year, income restrictions sunset under Alabama Code § 16-6J-3(b)(2). K-12 students residing in Alabama become eligible regardless of family income, subject to annual legislative appropriations.

Under the 2026–2027 allocation rules, prior participants and their siblings receive Tier 2 priority if requests exceed appropriations. ALDOR's published order for 2027–2028 and beyond retains that priority after the first 500 special-needs awards and before military dependents and remaining applicants ranked by AGI as a percentage of FPL.

Priority Tiers When Funding Is Limited

When more families apply than the appropriation covers, ALDOR distributes credits in this order:

1. Tier 1 — Special needs students with an active IEP, ISP, or Section 504 plan (first 500 credits reserved)
2. Tier 2 — Prior-year participants and their siblings
3. Tier 3 — Active-duty military dependents in Priority School zones (schools rated D or F)
4. Tier 4 — Everyone else, ranked by income from lowest AGI upward until funds run out

Year one saw 21,953 approved applications against a $100 million appropriation. The legislature also authorized an $80 million expansion reserve that went unspent, suggesting the cap isn't immediately under pressure — but universal eligibility in 2027 will change that math.

What If You're Over the Income Limit

If your household AGI is above 300% FPL for an income-restricted year, the research says the income cap sunsets for 2027–2028, subject to annual appropriations. For an application before then, use the tax year ALDOR specifies; for 2026–2027, that was 2025.

The Alabama CHOOSE Act ESA Parent Guide includes an eligibility worksheet that walks through the FPL calculation for your family size and a priority-tier breakdown so you know where you stand in the allocation queue.

See more Alabama guides →