Welcome to the 2026-2027 SDPE Application

SD Partners in Education offers scholarships to qualifying students to attend participating private schools in South Dakota.

Please read the information below, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the green bar to begin your application.

Scholarship Deadline

  • The deadline for new and returning students is May 31st. Your application must reach a GOOD form rating. That means that you have submitted all required income documentation and your application is ready to be evaluated for eligibility in the SDPE scholarship program.
  • Applicants who apply after May 31st are placed on a Waiting List. SDPE awards to Waiting List students as funds become available.

Scholarship Requirements 

  • The student must live in South Dakota while receiving the scholarship.
  • Each student must be INCOME eligible. The INCOME eligible student is a member of a household whose total annual income in the previous year was not more than one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the reduced lunch income of the federal free and reduced-price lunch program. (See chart below)
  • Once a student qualifies, they are eligible for a scholarship for (3) years.
  • A foster child is automatically eligible for a scholarship. The foster parent must submit an official letter or state document confirming foster child status.

When to Reapply? 

  • Students that need to reapply this year are F23 (first received a scholarship in 2023), F20 (2020), and Gen 2 (2017).
  • Students must reapply after being in the program for three (3) years. Reapplying students are eligible if they are members of a household whose total annual income does not exceed two hundred percent (200%) of the reduced lunch income of the federal free and reduced-price lunch program (See chart below).
  • There are scholarship benefits for students who reapply when they enter high school. High school students (9-12) receive more money with scholarships awarded at the high school rate.
  • Once a student qualifies at the high school level, they are eligible until they graduate.

2026-2027 Qualifying Income Scale

We honor the income level that originally qualified the student, or we use the lower-income level of a subsequent application submitted before the time to reapply.

A qualifying income cannot be more than what is listed below.

Household Size

Free

Lunch Income Level

Reduced

Lunch Income Level

200%

Of Reduced Lunch Income Level

250%

Reapplying Students Only

2

$28,132

$40,034

$80,068

$100,085

3

$35,516

$50,542

$101,084

$126,355

4

$42,900

$61,050

$122,100

$152,625

5

$50,284

$71,558

$143,116

$178,895

6

$57,668

$82,066

$164,132

$205,165

7

$65,052

$92,574

$185,148

$231,435

8

$72,436

$103,082

$206,164

$257,705

For each additional family member, add

$7,384

$10,508

$21,016

$26,270
INCOME ELIGIBILITY LIMITS
The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. 1751, et seq.
Effective from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027

Eligibility Cycles:

To enable SDPE to track the year a student must reapply, we label each student with the year they qualified. The Category Code designations also recognize that the law allows students that qualify in high school to be eligible until they graduate from high school. Those qualifying in 9th grade are then eligible without reapplying. If a student’s 3-year eligibility overlaps with them entering 9th grade, the family may choose to reapply at 9th grade and receive the high school rate or stay at the same rate and wait until the initial eligibility runs out.

2 Gen students, F20, and F23 students must reapply for the 2026-2027 school year.

• 1 Gen – A student who first qualified in the 2016-2017 school year
• 2 Gen – A student who first qualified in the 2017-2018 school year
• 3 Gen – A student who first qualified in the 2018-2019 school year
• F19 – A student who first qualified in the 2019-2020 school year
• F20 – A student who first qualified in the 2020-2021 school year
• F21 – A student who first qualified in the 2021-2022 school year
• F22 – A student who first qualified in the 2022-2023 school year
• F23 – A student who first qualified in the 2023-2024 school year
• F24 – A student who first qualifies in the 2024-2025 school year
• F25 – A student who first qualifies in the 2025-2026 school year
• F26 – A student who first qualifies in the 2026-2027 school year
• High School – A student who qualifies or reapplies in HS is eligible for the entirety of HS

Application Guidelines

  • To apply for scholarships, families must submit an online application.
  • Completing the application does not guarantee that a scholarship will be provided.

New Applications

Please fill out all the questions in the TADS Financial Aid Application, including the supplemental questions.

Families must provide 2025 federal income tax documents and W2 statements to document financial need.

Only one application per family is required in any given year. By listing all eligible students on the family application each child will be considered for a scholarship.

If you are unsure of what is being asked, you can call, email, or chat.

Toll-free: 800-477-8237

E-mail: support@tads.com

Click here to start application.