Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities

Participating students must be ages 3-22 and not yet graduated from 12th grade. They must have an IEP or a physician/psychologist diagnosis of a qualifying condition, including autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, speech or language impairment, muscular dystrophy, specific learning disabilities, certain rare diseases, or other defined health impairments. Students are also eligible if they are hearing or visually impaired, have a traumatic brain injury, are homebound or hospitalized for more than six months due to a diagnosed condition, or are high-risk preschoolers with developmental delays. Priority is given to students from households earning up to 185% of the FPL, and to children in foster or out-of-home care. The ESA is funded through the Florida Education Finance Plan. Award amounts vary by grade, county, and disability needs and are based on a matrix of services. The maximum grant equals 100% of the exceptional student program base or cost of services plus certain per-pupil categorical funding. Awards are prorated by the quarter of eligibility. There is no cap on participation.

Funding Mechanism: Florida Education Finance Plan

Universal Eligibility: ❌
Universal Usage: ✅
Universal Funding: ✅
Truly Universal: ❌

(Last updated December 16, 2025)

Parents can use the funds to pay for a variety of educational services, including private school tuition and fees, instructional materials and devices, specialized services offered by an approved provider or hospital, tutoring, online education, home education, curriculum, therapies and behavior analysis, services from a speech pathologist, nationally norm-referenced testing, AP exams and industry certifications, unbundled courses and services at a public school, using a choice navigator, and tuition and fees at postsecondary educational institutions in Florida.

(Last updated December 16, 2025)

View program requirements for parents, schools, and scholarship granting organizations by clicking on each hyperlink.

(Last updated December 16, 2025)

Fla. Stat. § 1002.394

(Last updated July 15, 2024) 

On January 4, 2019, the Florida Supreme Court in Citizens for Strong Schools v. Florida State Board of Education rejected a claim that the state did not adequately fund education, marking the end of a 10-year litigation effort. The high court also preserved Florida’s school choice programs due to plaintiffs’ failure to adequately preserve their arguments throughout the litigation. The high court affirmed two lower court rulings (Citizens for Strong Schools, Inc. v. Florida State Board of Education, No. CA-4534 (Fla. 2d. Jud. Cir. May 24, 2016); and Citizens for Strong Schools v. Florida State Board of Education, No. 1D16-2862 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. Dec. 13, 2017)) holding that plaintiffs had no standing to sue regarding the tax-credit scholarship program, and that Florida’s school choice programs did not divert state funding or have any detrimental effect on Florida’s system of public schools. Notwithstanding the Florida Supreme Court’s prior ruling against vouchers (Bush v. Holmes, 886 So. 2d 340 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004), aff’d on other grounds, 919 So. 2d 392 (Fla. 2006)), the Court also held that the McKay voucher program was beneficial and constitutional. Citizens for Strong Schools v. Florida State Board of Education, case No. SC18-67 (FL. Jan 4, 2019). 

 (Last updated July 15, 2024)