Updated March. 31, 2025
After a record-setting opening weekend in which more than 120,000 students applied for Florida K-12 scholarships, demand remains high.
Step Up For Students, the nonprofit organization that administers 98% of the state’s scholarships, opened applications for the 2025-26 school year on Feb. 1.
By the end of the day on Friday, March 28, more than 425,00 students had applied.
That included approximately 340,000 who were renewing scholarships from past years, and approximately 85,000 students applying for scholarships for the first time.
- Nearly 249,000 applied for scholarships that help pay private school tuition. Families can use any leftover money for tutoring, curriculum, or other supplemental learning.
- About 112,000 students applied for Unique Abilities scholarships that allow students with special needs to customize their education.
- About 64,000 students applied for Personalized Education Program scholarships, which help families direct the education of children who do not attend school full time.
Step Up For Students CEO Gretchen Schoenhaar said the organization’s team and systems were ready for a surge of interest. During the record-shattering opening weekend, Step Up’s technology systems had zero downtime. Of families who called in for assistance, 84% reported they were “very satisfied” with the support they received and nine of 10 said their inquiry was resolved on the first call.
“The unprecedented volume of applications on our opening weekend highlights the value Florida families place on the opportunity to choose the best possible education for their children,” Schoenhaar said. “Our teams are prepared to meet the growing demand for scholarships and support families every step of the way. Our seamless execution proves it is possible to expand education opportunities at scale.”
This year, more than 500,000 students use the state’s K-12 scholarship programs to access learning options of their choice. That makes Florida the national leader in education options. If these students were counted as a single school district, it would be the largest in the state and third largest in the country.
Step Up is focused on supporting that growth. So far this year, SUFS has paid nearly 2 million quarterly invoices to schools in 4.4 business days, on average and more than 1 million reimbursements, in 4.2 business days on average. By the end of the year, we expect to double the number of reimbursements and process a total of 2 million MyScholarShop e-commerce transactions.
Current scholarship families have until April 30 to renew their scholarships for next school year. All families who want a PEP scholarship also have an April 30 deadline to apply.
Private School and Unique Abilities Scholarship applications will be available through Nov. 15 for families who want a new scholarship or current students who do not renew their scholarship by April 30.
Applications and more details are available here.
We will update the numbers in this post each week on Monday until applications close.
