Private school demand surges across Southwest Florida

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK) — More families across Southwest Florida are using state scholarships to pay for private school, and local Catholic schools say the growth is changing what they are able to offer students.

The Diocese of Venice, which oversees more than 15 Catholic schools across Southwest Florida, says enrollment has increased more than 40% over the last six years. Father John Belmonte, superintendent of Catholic education for the Diocese of Venice, said universal school choice accelerated growth that was already underway.

“We certainly have benefited from people moving to Florida,” Belmonte said. “But we’ve really been able over the years, all across the diocese, to increase enrollment more than the demographic increases in various areas around the diocese.”

The Diocese says it has seen roughly 10% enrollment growth year over year for five years. It also reported a 15% average increase in inquiries during the first year of universal school choice, with some schools seeing inquiries climb as much as 50% over five years.

Today, the Diocese says about 95% of its families participate in school choice. Belmonte said when he arrived seven years ago, about 50% to 60% of families were using state scholarship programs.

“Many of them would not be able to consider private education if it weren’t for the scholarships,” Belmonte said.

Data provided by Step Up for Students shows a sharp increase in the number of students using Florida Tax Credit or Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options funding since the 2022-23 school year.

In Lee County, the number of students using those scholarships increased from 3,454 in 2022-23 to 7,154 in 2025-26. Collier County increased from 1,253 students to 3,240 over the same period. Charlotte County increased from 829 students to 1,374. The amount of scholarship funding going to students in those programs has also grown.

During the 2025-26 school year, Lee County received about $56.3 million in Florida Tax Credit and Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options funding. Collier County received about $29.7 million. Charlotte County received about $11.2 million. Those figures do not include Family Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities funding.

Step Up for Students said final participation numbers for the 2026-27 school year will not be available until late September or early October because scholarship funding is still being distributed.

The Diocese says increased enrollment has allowed its schools to invest in teacher salaries, educational programs and additional space.

“We’ve been able to fill every classroom,” Belmonte said. “We’ve been able to compensate our teachers better than before. We’ve been able to utilize some of these resources to put to educational programming and expand our programming across the entire diocesan system.”

The Diocese says every school has had a waitlist. It has expanded classroom space at four high schools and three grade schools, and says two additional school projects are planned. Belmonte said the Diocese has also seen schools that previously struggled with enrollment become more stable as interest in private education has increased.

Belmonte said the Diocese has moved away from what he described as a traditional tuition-based model and instead charges families based on the actual cost of educating a student.

“The difference between what they get from the state scholarship and what that cost is, is usually between two and $3,000 at the grade school level, and probably five or 7,000 at the high school level,” Belmonte said.

The Diocese says it raises additional scholarship money for families who cannot afford that remaining cost. According to the Diocese, some families now pay nothing out of pocket, while others pay about half of what they were paying before universal eligibility. Belmonte said rising tuition is tied to increasing operating costs, including teacher salaries, health benefits, capital improvements and expansion.

Step Up for Students also provided data showing how many students newly entering scholarship programs had attended a public school the previous year. In Lee County, 659 students who entered scholarship programs in 2025-26 had been enrolled in public school the year before. That represented 0.65% of total district and charter enrollment. In Collier County, 245 students made that transition, representing 0.52% of enrollment. In Charlotte County, 190 students made that transition, representing 1.11%.

Step Up says those numbers show students leaving district schools for scholarships have not been a major driver of overall district enrollment changes.

Belmonte said universal school choice is not the only reason Catholic schools are growing. The Diocese saw enrollment increase during the pandemic and has also benefited from Southwest Florida’s population growth. He said the 2023 expansion gave more families the ability to consider private education.

“I don’t think we’d be quite in as strong a position,” Belmonte said.