Florida Private School Scholarships for Parents: Tax Credit and Family Empowerment

Private School Scholarship at a Glance

Who it is for: Florida K-12 students who will attend an eligible private school full time

Income: Any income can apply. Income affects award order only, not eligibility

Published average: About $8,000 per student. An average published by Step Up, not a promise

How it pays: Quarterly payments to the school, each approved by a parent in EMA

What Is the Private School Scholarship?

Step Up For Students runs one application for the two programs behind this scholarship, the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) and the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO), and Step Up assigns the program. Families do not choose between them, and the rules on this page apply to both.

The two programs are legally distinct, with different statutes and funding sources, but parents experience one scholarship: one handbook, one application, and one set of deadlines.

Who Can Apply?

Any Florida family with a student who can enroll in kindergarten through grade 12 in a Florida public school can apply, including a child starting kindergarten (age 5 on or before September 1). A child who received a Hope Scholarship in 2023-2024 also meets the student requirement. Families moving to Florida on active-duty military orders have their own documentation path.

Household income is not part of the decision. Old descriptions of these scholarships as income-based programs are out of date.

Does Income Matter? Only for Award Order

Income never decides whether a family can receive this scholarship. When funding is limited, Step Up makes awards in a set order: first, students renewing a scholarship; next, households with income up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level, together with students in foster care or out-of-home care; next, households between 186 and 400 percent; and after that, households above 400 percent, together with families who choose not to share income information.

Sharing income information on the application is always optional. A family that shares nothing is placed in the last award group, and that choice never changes whether a student can receive the scholarship.

The School Enrollment Rule

This scholarship pays for full-time attendance at an eligible private school. A student is not eligible while enrolled full time in a public school, including a charter school, Florida Virtual School, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, or a developmental research school.

Families who are leaving a public school complete the move with a Standard Withdrawal Form, and the state checks enrollment before payments are sent. Home education is not a setting for this scholarship; families who direct their child's education at home are usually pointed to the Personalized Education Program (PEP) instead.

How and When to Apply

Families apply in EMA, Step Up's online system. Add every student in the My Students area before submitting; one application covers the whole family for this scholarship.

Applications are open until November 15, 2026. 33 days left.

Add Key Dates to Your Calendar

For the 2026-2027 school year, renewal applications were due by April 30, 2026, and new student applications run February 1 to November 15, 2026. A renewal that arrives late is treated as a new application. Step Up tells renewal families its decision by May 31, 2026, and new applicants by December 15, 2026.

How Much Is the Scholarship?

Step Up publishes an average of about $8,000 per student for the private school scholarships. That figure is an average, not a promise. The actual amount is set each year by the Florida Legislature and depends on the student's grade level and county of residence, in an annual funding chart.

Funding is prorated by when a family finishes the enrollment steps, so completing everything early in the school year protects the full amount. In the most recent printed cycle, steps finished by September 30 drew the full award, steps finished by January 15 drew half, and enrollment not finished by January 15 drew no funding for that school year.

What to Have Ready

• Proof of Florida residency
• For first-time applicants who are age 5 or 6 on September 1: a birth certificate or a non-expired passport
• Income documents only if your family wants to be considered for income-based award priority. Sharing is optional

After Approval: Payments, Renewal, and Closure

Scholarship funds are paid to the school in quarterly payments. A parent must approve each quarterly payment in EMA before the money is released, and that approval cannot be handed to anyone else, not even the school.

This scholarship also works as an education savings account. Step Up first commits the student's tuition and fees to the school. If money is left in the account after tuition and fees are paid, the family can use the remaining balance for other eligible education expenses, including instructional materials and curriculum, part-time tutoring, standardized testing fees, elective lessons such as music, art, language, and drama, physical education, and tuition for approved online or virtual instruction, postsecondary courses, dual enrollment, or an approved pre-apprenticeship program.

Families spend leftover funds through EMA: Direct Pay to an approved provider (a service is paid after it has been rendered), reimbursement for an eligible purchase the family made, or MyScholarShop, the pre-approved store inside EMA, for materials and curriculum. Two limits matter. Therapies and other specialized services are not covered by this scholarship; they belong to the Unique Abilities Scholarship (FES-UA). And computers, tablets, and other devices are not eligible purchases under this scholarship, although digital materials such as eBooks, apps, and subscriptions are.

Once funded, a student stays in the program until the student returns to public school, graduates from high school, or turns 21, as long as the family renews each year and keeps Florida residency. A family that sits out a year applies again as a new student.

The account closes, and remaining funds return to the state, if two consecutive fiscal years (July 1 to June 30) pass with no spending activity.

Questions Parents Ask

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