In a joint announcement, a group comprised of the largest Orthodox Jewish advocacy groups in the country announced their support for a newly launched national scholarship organization that they say will help yeshivos and families take advantage of a new federal tax credit for private-school scholarships.

Agudath Israel of America and Torah U’Mesorah announced their endorsement of the Opportunity Fund for Jewish Education, saying a single national Scholarship Granting Organization will be best positioned to maximize the amount of funding available to yeshivos and provide tuition relief to families.

The decision follows months of discussions between the organizations, including deliberations by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah and the Vaad Roshei Hayeshivos, according to the announcement, with one overriding question in mind: What approach will maximize the benefit of this tax credit for our yeshivos, our families, and the future of chinuch?

The conclusion was that the strongest course is to work through a single Scholarship Granting Organization with the scale, reach, and infrastructure necessary to bring the greatest possible number of dollars to our mosdos.

Accordingly, Agudath Israel of America and Torah Umesorah are proud to endorse the Opportunity Fund for Jewish Education, a new national Scholarship Granting Organization launched by the Orthodox Union and Teach Coalition, Jewish Federations of North America, and Prizmah.

The Opportunity Fund pairs national strength with local connection. Its reach can open participation across the country, while its structure allows communities, parents, alumni, and supporters to stand behind the schools and yeshivos they know and care about.

What This Means for Our Families and Yeshivos:

Beginning January 1, 2027, eligible taxpayers can contribute to the Opportunity Fund for Jewish Education and receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit of up to $1,700. In participating states, those contributions can fund scholarships at yeshivos, bringing meaningful tuition relief to families.

Local dollars stay local. Contributors can designate their contributions to participating yeshivos and schools, and communities can mobilize their parents, alumni, and supporters to direct new resources to their mosdos.

A unified platform strengthens that designation: it broadens awareness, reaches contributors our institutions could not reach on their own, and ensures that yeshivos in communities of every size can benefit.

Importantly, 100% of every dollar designated to a school will go directly toward scholarships for its students, with none used to cover the Fund’s administrative or operating costs.

The Fund’s scale and partnerships uniquely position it to raise separate philanthropic support for those costs.

We believe that, b’ezras Hashem, this effort can bring meaningful new resources to our mosdos and real tuition relief to families throughout the country.

However, the law also required that each individual state opt in to the program.

Residents in states that do not opt in would still be allowed to donate to scholarship organizations in other states that did opt in, potentially setting up a scenario where tens of millions of dollars can flow out of state, benefiting another state’s economy.