- The account in one paragraph
LA GATOR (Giving All True Opportunity to Rise) is Louisiana's education savings account. The state deposits money four times a year into an Odyssey account opened for your child, and you direct it to an approved school's tuition or to approved learning expenses. It replaced the Louisiana Scholarship Program, the voucher program that many Acadiana Catholic schools took part in.
- Who can apply
Louisiana residents aged 5 to 21 by September 30. Income does not decide eligibility, but it decides priority: returning participants are funded first, then students served under IDEA and households at or under 250% of the federal poverty level ($80,375 for a family of four), then siblings of participants, then everyone else.
- How much
$5,243 for most students, $7,626 at or under 250% of poverty, and up to $15,253 for students served under IDEA, tiered by need. Former Louisiana Scholarship Program students who stay at the same school keep their 2024-25 amount until they finish that school's top grade.
- What it buys
Tuition and required fees at a BESE-approved school, billed through Odyssey. A student who is not enrolled full time can use the money in the Odyssey marketplace for courses, curriculum, tutoring, therapy, testing, dual enrollment and technology from registered providers.
- When
Applications open each spring; the 2026-27 window was March 1 to March 16, 2026. Returning students renew in the same window.
- The budget
17,848 students applied for 2026-27 and 16,993 were found eligible, against funding of $43.5 million. New applicants outside the priority groups were largely waitlisted.
Where the award meets Acadiana tuition
Louisiana does not collect private school tuition, so we will not quote a figure. The structure is still clear from the public lists. 31 of the 53 approved schools in these eight parishes are Catholic, most of them parish schools with a parishioner rate, and the parishioner rate is where the $5,243 and $7,626 awards have the best chance of covering most of the bill. At the large Lafayette high schools and the independent campuses, expect the award to cover part of the cost and plan for the rest.
Former voucher schools
Many Acadiana Catholic schools took Louisiana Scholarship Program students before LA GATOR replaced it, and the state still publishes Scholarship Cohort Indices for schools with enough tested scholarship students. In these parishes the 2025 list includes Family Worship Christian Academy, Holy Family Catholic School, John Paul the Great Academy, Westminster Christian Academy (Opelousas). If your child held a voucher, staying at the same school keeps the protected amount; moving resets it to the standard tiers.
While you wait
A waitlist place stays open, and awards are made if money frees up. In the meantime: apply to an STO at a participating school (see the STO guide), ask the school about parish or school assistance, and ask whether it will hold a seat on a payment plan.
Other money
Louisiana offers a state income tax deduction for nonpublic tuition, fees, uniforms and required supplies; check the current limit with the Department of Revenue. Louisiana opted in to the new federal scholarship tax credit on December 17, 2025, which funds scholarships through approved scholarship-granting organizations from the 2027 tax year; the organization list is not out yet. Terms for our own partner scholarship are still being set.