Florida Tax Credit Scholarships
To expand educational opportunities for children of families that have limited financial resources and to enable children in this state to achieve a greater level of excellence in their education, the Florida Legislature created the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program in 2001. The law provides for state tax credits for contributions to nonprofit scholarship funding organizations, (SFOs). The SFOs then award scholarships to eligible children.
The tax credit cap amount for the 2022-2023 fiscal year is $1,091,957,093.
On March 27, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law House Bill (HB) 1, which expands available school choice options for all students in Florida. The bill eliminates financial eligibility restrictions in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program while still prioritizing awards to students with household incomes that do not exceed 185 percent of the federal poverty level and incorporating a second priority to award scholarships to students who live in households with incomes between 185 percent of the federal poverty level and 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
In addition, for the 2023-24 school year, the bill creates a new opportunity for up to 20,000 Florida students not enrolled full time in a public or private school to participate in the scholarship through a parent-directed Personalized Education Program. Details on this opportunity will be shared as the program is developed.
With these expansions along with the many other existing school choice options, Florida is empowering every family and every child to achieve their educational goals.