How much is the Florida Private School Scholarship for a Palm Beach County student in 2026-27?
For 2026-27 the Florida Private School Scholarship (FTC/FES-EO, the state's school voucher program) pays a Palm Beach County child $8,890 in K-3, $8,288 in grades 4-8 and $8,091 in grades 9-12. The amount tracks the county where the child lives and not where the school sits, and the Legislature fixes it in the state budget.
Palm Beach's K-3 amount ranks 27th among Florida's 67 counties. It is higher than the amounts for Miami-Dade ($8,745), Broward ($8,494), Orange ($8,420) and Duval ($8,409), and lower than Martin ($9,165) and Sarasota ($9,057). Monroe County has the highest award in the state at $12,217.
Is there an income limit on Florida's private school scholarship for Palm Beach County families?
No, there is no income limit: since the 2023 expansion, every Florida K-12 student who could attend a public school is eligible for the Private School Scholarship regardless of household income.
Lower-income households still matter in one respect. If applications ever exceed available funding, families at or below 300% of the federal poverty level are served first. That ordering is the only place income enters.
What do FTC and FES-EO mean, and which one does a Palm Beach family apply for?
FTC is the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, funded by tax-credited donations, and FES-EO is the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, funded directly by the state; a family files a single application and does not pick between them.
The same application is taken by Step Up For Students and by AAA Scholarship Foundation, the two scholarship funding organizations (SFOs) that process these awards. You apply through one of them. Ask your school which organization it is registered with before you apply, because the school's enrollment steps run through that organization's portal.
Which Palm Beach County private schools accept the Private School Scholarship?
127 of the 171 private schools registered in the Palm Beach district are flagged as FTC or FES-EO participants in the Florida DOE directory pulled on October 28, 2026. Participation is not evenly spread: 12 of 12 Catholic schools and 11 of 13 Jewish day schools and other faith schools carry the flag.
Every school page in the directory shows the flag, plus FES-UA and PEP status. The flag can change after the pull date, so ask the school to confirm in writing before you enroll.
When does the scholarship money reach the school, and what must the family do?
Payments go out each quarter, and only once the school has entered the child's enrollment in EMA and the parent has approved it. A new 2026-27 family must apply by November 15, 2026, then accept the award in EMA by December 15.
For students who start mid-year, the Quarter 3 enrollment deadline is December 15, 2026, a student not yet enrolled must be enrolled by January 15, 2027 to receive any 2026-27 funding, and the Quarter 4 deadline for transfer students is February 15, 2027.
What is the Private School Scholarship, and what is it not?
The short version: a payment from the state, through Step Up or AAA, to a participating private school, and not a cash grant to the family or a refund of tuition already paid.
| It is | It is not |
|---|---|
| A payment from the state, through Step Up or AAA, to a participating private school | A cash grant to the family or a refund of tuition already paid |
| Available to any Florida resident eligible for public K-12, at any income | A lottery or a program with a fixed number of seats for a household income band |
| Set by county of residence and grade band | The same dollar amount in every county |
| Usable at religious and secular schools that participate | Usable at every private school; the school must be registered as a participant |
| Paid in quarterly installments after EMA enrollment is approved | Paid in a lump sum in August |