Basic Program Facts about the
Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC)
Florida created the income-based Florida Tax Credit Scholarship in 2001 to give 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 awarded scholarships, averaging between $6,900 to $7,500 depending on grade and county of residence, to 85,510 economically disadvantaged students during the 2021-22 school year. Overall, the scholarship program served 85,510 students in 2,048 private schools throughout the state, 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 seven-student Walden Middle School in Gulfport to the 1,807-student Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale. The average school in the 2021-22 school year had 56 scholarship students.
A first-of-its-kind study on the long-term effects of the scholarship program by the Urban Institute found that scholarship students are up to 43 percent more likely to go to college and up to 29 percent more likely to earn an associates degree than their peers. Read the Urban Institute fact sheet here.
Learn more about the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship below or download the 2021-22 fact sheet here. Working class families: The average household income is $37,730, or 43 percent above poverty. The standard for free or reduced lunch in public schools is 185 percent of poverty.
Is black or Hispanic: Some 29 percent of students are black and 38 percent Hispanic. Roughly 26 percent are white and another 3 percent identify as multi-racial.
Lives with one parent: 55 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.”
Is small in size: The average total enrollment is 135 students.
Serves mostly private-paying students: The average participating school serves 91 scholarship students, or about 30 percent of the student population.
Serves elementary students: Of the more than 85,000 FTC students served, 37 percent of all scholarship students are in grades K-2 and 63 percent in grades K-5.
Is faith-based: 69 percent of the schools are faith-based. The 186 Catholic schools represent the largest single group.
The scholarship is only for low-income students: To initially receive a scholarship, a student’s household income cannot exceed 185 percent of poverty, which is the standard for free or reduced-price lunch.
Scholarship students are tested: Every scholarship student in grades 3-10 is required to take a nationally norm-referenced test approved by the state.
Academic gains are measured and reported: A University of Florida research team each year publicly reports the test gains in reading and math, both statewide and for schools with at least 30 students.
Scholarship money is monitored: Every school receiving more than $250,000 in scholarship money each year must file a financial report by an independent CPA.
The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program was expanded in 2010 to serve more low-income students, making it both the largest and most accountable program of its type in the nation. The law lets the program grow to better meet student demand by allowing the available tax credits to grow by 25 percent any year after which 90 percent of the cap is met.
