School choices in Florida have become a hot product and demand continues to grow.
Step-Up for Students, a nonprofit organization that manages 98% of state scholarships, begins applications for the 2025-26 schools, which began at 9am on Saturday, and is now new to more than 120,000 by the end of the weekend. They say they set a record. Student applying.
“This is the most demanding thing we’ve seen in the first two days since Florida’s scholarship program began applying,” said Travis Pillow, director of student step-up.
The new statistics show that nearly 63,400 students (51,861 updates and 11,533 new) have been applied for scholarships that will help pay tuition fees for private schools. Families can use the remaining money for tutoring, curriculum, or other supplemental learning.
Approximately 33,900 students applied for a unique ability scholarship. This allows students with special needs to customize their education. This number includes 28,608 updates and 5,270 new applications. Additionally, approximately 25,700 students applied for personalized educational program scholarships. This helps families direct the education of children who are not attending school full time. This total consists of 20,572 updated applications and 5,081 new applications.
Step-up for students says he wasn’t surprised by the surge in interest. Of the families who sought help, 84% reported being “very happy with the support they received,” while nine out of ten said the investigation was resolved on their first call.”
More than half a million students will use the state’s K-12 scholarship program to access their chosen learning options, and Florida will become the national leader in educational options, according to Step Up’s Travis Pillow. “If these students were counted as a single school district, it would be the biggest in the state and the third largest in the country,” Pillow said.
Current scholarship families must renew their next year’s scholarship until April 30th. The April 30th deadline applies to all families seeking a PEP scholarship.
Private Schools and Unique Aptitude Scholarship Applications are available until November 15th, for families who want new scholarships and current students who do not renew the scholarship by April 30th.
