Employer-Sponsored Scholarship Program
Funding scholarships can enable businesses to support local communities while working
to ensure a quality workforce. Not only can participation in sponsoring a scholarship
assist Oregon students, it may be of tax benefit to your business. Employers may receive
a tax credit of 50% of the scholarship award amount, as long as the employer contributes
to the scholarship fund the same year as filing for the credit and has no more than 250
full-time employees during the calendar year.
Employer-sponsored Scholarship Programs offer scholarship awards specifically to
employees or dependents of eligible employees. These programs must adhere to IRS
guidelines for employee related programs as outlined in the Employer-Sponsored Scholarship
Program Fact Sheet. To insure adherence to IRS
guidelines, employers are required to be certified by OSAC through the completion
of an Annual Certification Request form.
Benefits of these employer programs include:
- indirect advancement of a trade or industry, by targeting certain fields of study
- demonstration of a company's community spirit and good will
- professional scholarship program administered by OSAC
- IRS tax deductible contributions
Business sponsors say the intangible benefits of scholarship funding through the
Commission are often the most rewarding:
An unexpected outcome is improved labor relations. Line staff and managers are equally
represented in scholarship decision-making.
We consider the scholarship to be an investment in the families of our employees
and it shows we support them.
Oregon Tax Credit Program
The Oregon Tax Credit may be granted to employers whose Employer-Sponsored Scholarship
Program meets the following criteria:
- program has been certified as an Employer-Sponsored Scholarship Program by OSAC
- employers must have either a minimum of 4 full-time employees, or a maximum of 250
full-time employees
- contributed to the scholarship program during the calendar year for which tax credit
is sought