Basic Program Facts about the
Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC)
Florida created the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship in 2001 to give low-income students one learning option that is not available to them because of their financial circumstances. It allows them to consider whether a private school might be a better fit academically.
Step Up for Students served 85,510 students in 2,048 private schools throughout the state during the 2021-22 school year, and the mix is truly eclectic. The schools that have chosen to join the cause of helping underprivileged students run the gamut – everything from the six-student Walden Middle School in Gulfport to the 1,512-student Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School in Fort Lauderdale. The average school has 56 scholarship students.

Is black or Hispanic: Some 29 percent of students are black and 39 percent Hispanic. Roughly 26 percent are white and another 4 percent identify as multi-racial.
Lives with one parent: Fifty-four percent of the scholarship children are from single-parent households.
Has struggled academically: A state-commissioned researcher has determined that scholarship students “tend to be among the lowest-performing students in their prior school, regardless of the performance level of their public school.”
More low-income students are choosing this option
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