Tuition & Scholarships

Making education affordable

Tuition

At Good Shepherd Catholic School, we offer competitive tuition rates to make Catholic education accessible for all students. Click on the links below to learn about our tuition costs for our early education, preschool, and K-8 programs.

FACTS

Yearly and monthly tuition is paid through the FACTS Tuition Plan Program. Monthly tuition is paid on the 5th, 10th, 15th or 20th of each month for 10 months beginning August through May. There is a $46.00 annual Administration Fee charged by FACTS.

To set up, review, or update your Infant – 8th grade FACTS Tuition Plan, click here.
For more information about the FACTS Tuition Program, visit their website. 

 

Tuition Assistance and Scholarships

 An excellent education at Good Shepherd Catholic School is within reach of every child. Our school offers a variety of tuition assistance and scholarship programs to assist families in their desire to provide a Catholic education to their children. Below are the programs we offer.

Please see GSCS Parent – Student Handbook for more details on scholarships, including how scholarship funds are applied to tuition.

 

STATE OF FLORIDA SCHOLARSHIPS

Florida provides a variety of school choice options, including several scholarship programs. These programs allow parents unprecedented choice among public and private schools. Good Shepherd Catholic School (GSCS) accepts the Florida Empowerment Scholarship (EO and UA) and the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship K-8 students. GSCS and the GS Early Learning Center also accepts School Readiness and VPK (Voluntary Pre-K Program). See below for more information on these scholarship programs.  

Family Empowerment Scholarship

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. As of the 2023-24 school year, the bill eliminates financial eligibility restrictions and the current enrollment cap for the Family Empowerment Scholarship Educational Options. HB 1 also increases the annual scholarship cap growth for the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities from one percent to three percent annually to address high demand and wait lists.

With these expansions along with other school choice options, Florida is empowering every family and every child to achieve their educational goals.

Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options

This branch of the scholarship eligibility provides additional educational options for all K-12 students, such as attending a participating private school. Families apply and annually renew through one of the approved scholarship funding organizations* (SFO), which are responsible for determining and distributing funding. FES EO also offers families of eligible students the option to receive a $750 scholarship to provide transportation to a public school different from the school to which the student was assigned.

Educational Options FAQs (PDF)

Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities

This branch of the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program is designed to offer families of students with disabilities, as young as 3 years of age, access to additional education options. Families may choose to enroll their student in another public school, or they may choose to take the opportunity to receive a personal education savings account (ESA) for their student. With an ESA, instead of having their child attend a public school, parents receive a deposit of public funds into government-authorized savings accounts with restricted, but multiple, uses. An ESA can be used to fund not only items such as private school tuition and fees, but also online learning programs, private tutoring, community college costs, higher education expenses and other approved customized learning services and materials. Families apply and annually renew for participation in FES UA through one of the approved SFOs, which are responsible for determining eligibility, awarding and distributing funding to eligible student accounts, and approving eligible expenditures.

Florida Tax Credit Scholarship 

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.

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.

*Scholarship Funding Organizations If you are interested in applying for either branch of the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program, please contact one of the two scholarship funding organizations that administers these programs:

A.A.A. Scholarship Foundation- FL, LLC Step Up For Students

P.O. Box 15719, Tampa, FL 33684 P.O. Box 54367, Jacksonville, FL 32245

Phone/Fax: 888-707-2465 Phone: 877-735-7837

info@aaascholarships.org info@stepupforstudents.org

VPK (Voluntary Pre-K Program)

Florida was one of the first states in the country to offer free prekindergarten for all 4-year-olds regardless of family income. The Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program prepares early learners for success in kindergarten and beyond. Children must live in Florida and be 4 years old on or before Sept. 1 of the current school year to be eligible. The program helps build a strong foundation for school using educational materials that are geared to various stages in a child’s development. Please visit their website for eligibility requirements and online application.

School Readiness Program

The School Readiness program offers qualified parents financial assistance for childcare through a variety of services. Childcare services may include ELC tuition, extended-day, extended-year, and school age care to support parents in becoming financially self-sufficient. The School Readiness program is administered by 4C for those living in Orange, Seminole or Osceola Counties. Please visit their website for eligibility requirements and online application.