The short answer
Florida runs several state scholarship programs that pay private school tuition directly to the school. The average award is around $8,000 a year. If a school's tuition is at or below that figure, most families pay nothing out of pocket. If tuition is higher, the family pays the difference.
Since 2023 there has been no income cap on eligibility. Any child who is a Florida resident and eligible to enrol in a Florida public school can apply. Lower-income households are prioritised when funds are limited, but being above any particular income does not disqualify you from applying.
So the honest answer is that private school is free for many Florida families, and cheaper than they assume for almost all of them. The variable is not your income. It is the gap between the award and the school's tuition.
Where the catch actually is
There are three, and none of them is the one people expect.
The first is the deadline. New applications for a given school year close in mid-November. Miss it and you are waiting for the next school year, regardless of how eligible you are or how much you need it. This is the one that costs families the most and it is the one almost nobody knows about.
The second is the tuition gap. An $8,000 award at a school charging $12,000 leaves you $4,000 short, and that is a real bill. It is worth asking any school you tour the blunt question: after the average award, what do we actually pay?
The third is that funding is not guaranteed. The scholarship is awarded, then funded quarterly, and each quarter has its own enrolment deadline. A family can hold an award and still miss funding by not completing a step in the state's system. Good schools walk you through this. Ask whether they will.
The three programs, briefly
You do not need to work out which one you qualify for before you apply. One application covers you, and Step Up For Students sorts it out. But it helps to know the names when someone uses them at you.
- FES-EO, the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options. The main one. Any K-12 Florida resident eligible for public school. Priority for households at or below 185% of the federal poverty level.
- FTC, the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship. Funded by corporate tax-credit donations rather than direct state appropriation, and income-prioritised in the same way. From a family's point of view it behaves almost identically to FES-EO.
- FES-UA, the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities. For students with one of around twenty qualifying diagnoses or an active IEP. No income test at all, and the award is typically larger.
What the money does not pass through
A point that reassures most people once they hear it: the scholarship does not land in your bank account and it is not something you have to front and claim back.
Funds go from the state to the school on a quarterly schedule. Your part is to approve each payment in your EMA account, which is the online system Step Up uses. You are approving, not paying.
What to do next, in order
If you are reading this before mid-November and you have a child who is eligible for a Florida public school, the sequence is short.
- Create an EMA account at stepupforstudents.org and submit an application. It is free and there is no obligation attached to it.
- Talk to schools while the application is processing. Do not wait for the award to start looking, because the good rooms fill.
- Accept the award when it arrives, before the December deadline.
- Complete enrolment in EMA with your chosen school, which is the step that actually releases the funding.
Common questions
- Is there an income limit to apply for a Florida school scholarship?
- No. Since 2023 any Florida resident eligible to enrol in a Florida public school can apply. Households at or below 185% of the federal poverty level are prioritised when funds are limited, but there is no income ceiling on applying.
- How much is the average Florida school scholarship worth?
- Around $8,000 a year for FES-EO and FTC. The FES-UA award for students with unique abilities is typically larger. Amounts vary by program and household.
- When is the deadline to apply?
- New student applications for the 2026-2027 school year close on 15 November 2026. After that date a new family waits until the following school year, apart from narrow exceptions for military families, students in foster care and documented bullying cases.
- Does the scholarship money come to me or to the school?
- To the school, on a quarterly schedule. You approve each payment in your EMA account. Nothing passes through your own bank account.