not deductible

Tuition for one's own minor children may not be paid from maaser

Standard tuition for your own school-age children is an obligation you already owe, so it cannot be funded from maaser. (One who voluntarily forgoes an available tuition reduction may pay the difference from maaser, per contemporary poskim.)

Positions by community

Ashkenazi

not deductible

R' Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe YD 2:113): maaser may not discharge a pre-existing obligation; a parent is obligated in his children's chinuch, and under compulsory-education conditions this applies to daughters' religious schooling as well.

Sephardi

not deductible

Generally concurs that obligatory tuition is a parental duty not payable from maaser; leniencies exist under hardship (see separate rule).

Chabad

not deductible

Concurs for obligatory schooling of minor children.

Sources

  1. http://doseofhalacha.blogspot.com/2014/03/maaser-for-tuition.htmlYoreh De'ah vol. 2, siman 113
  2. https://halachablog.com/2016/08/18/the-laws-of-maaser-money/The Laws of Maaser Money (citing Igros Moshe YD 2:113)
  3. https://baishavaad.org/maaser-for-tuition/Ma'aser for Tuition

Track this for yourself

Tag transactions against rules like this one and see your running maaser balance.

MyMaaser presents sourced halachic positions and is not a substitute for your rav. Consult your rav (CYLOR).