The Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise (LA GATOR) Scholarship Program, created by Act 1 of the 2024 Louisiana Legislature and signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry, provides eligible families with education scholarship accounts (ESAs). These accounts allow families to personalize their child’s education using state-funded accounts for school tuition and fees, tutoring, educational therapies, textbooks and curricula, dual enrollment courses, and uniforms.
June 27, 2025 – Scholarship Notifications Begin for LSP Students
Odyssey has begun notifying eligible Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) students that they will receive a LA GATOR Scholarship for the 2025–2026 school year. These notifications follow the state’s approval of program funding and the renewal of the management contract with Odyssey.
Governor Jeff Landry requested nearly $100 million to fund the first year of the LA GATOR Scholarship Program. The Legislature approved $43.5 million, which is expected to support scholarships for approximately 6,000 eligible students.
The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget (JLCB) approved the renewal of the state’s management contract with Odyssey on June 20, 2025, providing for continued operation and management of the LA GATOR Scholarship Program.
To be eligible for the LA GATOR Scholarship Program, a student must:
Eligibility must be reverified each year to continue in the program.
The LA GATOR Scholarship Program is funded annually by the Louisiana Legislature. If there is not enough funding to cover every eligible student, awards are prioritized in this order:
If multiple students fall in the same priority group, applications are ordered by submission timestamp. Students who applied earlier within the window are prioritized over later applicants.
The amount a student can receive depends on family income and disability status. Awards are calculated using a percentage of Louisiana’s average state and local per-pupil funding.
Here’s what students may receive for the 2025–2026 school year:
Louisiana Scholarship Program students who remain at their current school will continue receiving the same amount they were awarded in 2024–2025, until they complete that school’s final grade or leave the school.
All awards are contingent on final funding decisions made by the Legislature and Governor.
Families participating in the LA GATOR Scholarship Program can use their funds for the following approved education expenses. Please note all purchases and tuition payments will be completed through the Odyssey Platform and families cannot be reimbursed for out of pocket expenses.
The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) will continue through the end of the 2024–2025 school year and officially end on June 30, 2025. Beginning with the 2025–2026 school year, eligible LSP families and schools will transition into the LA GATOR Scholarship Program.
Students who participated in LSP during the 2024–2025 school year are part of Phase 1 of LA GATOR and are designated as Priority 1 for funding.
If a student remains at the same school, they will continue to receive the same award amount they received through LSP until they finish the school’s final grade or leave the school.
Any nonpublic school that participated in LSP during the 2024–2025 school year (and remains in good standing) is automatically eligible to participate in LA GATOR for 2025–2026. These schools:
Beginning in 2026–2027, all participating schools must follow the standard LA GATOR application process and requirements each year.
The student application window closes on April 15, 2025. Here’s what happens next:
(BATON ROUGE, LA) - The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) announced the launch of its new online home at doe.louisiana.gov. The LDOE’s new website features a new look, new audience pages dedicated to some of the site’s most frequent visitors, and new ways for users to find the resources they need. Redesigned with the user in mind, the site offers a more seamless and convenient experience for visitors.
“A website should be easy for people to navigate and I regularly heard complaints about how difficult it was to find information on our old site,” said Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley. “Our new site is a big step in the right direction and we look forward to making continued improvements in how we serve the citizens of Louisiana.”
New features and tools are designed to enhance the user experience, offering intuitive access to essential resources for families, educators, school leaders, early childhood providers, and the general public.
Key Enhancements
While the LDOE is no longer utilizing its previous website address, louisianabelieves.com, users who try to visit the old address will be directed to the new site at doe.louisiana.gov. The previous website had served as the LDOE's online home for around a decade, hosting over 14,000 links and 400 pages of content. With millions of visits annually, the LDOE website is a critical resource for families, educators, and leaders across Louisiana. The new site reflects input gathered from stakeholders and was designed to better meet their needs.
This launch marks a key milestone in the LDOE’s larger digital transformation, which includes updated agency branding and a commitment to modernizing how information is shared.
To help visitors navigate the new site, the LDOE has developed a preview as well as links to some of the most visited pages. Along with visiting the website, the public can also stay connected to the LDOE through various email newsletters or on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.