Step Up For Students is Florida's school choice scholarship organization. It distributes over $4 billion in scholarships annually to more than 500,000 Florida students. Some of those scholarships apply to private preschools and daycares — including centers like yours.

Here's the opportunity: when parents search "Step Up For Students daycare [city]" or "FES-UA scholarship preschool Florida," almost no childcare center websites come up. The results are filled with the Step Up website itself, government FAQ pages, and generic directory listings. Your center could own this space entirely — within 30 days of publishing the right page.

💡 Why This Opportunity Is So Large

Parents of children with unique abilities (autism, IEP, speech delays, developmental disabilities) are searching desperately for centers that accept the FES-UA scholarship. The average FES-UA award is ~$10,000. These families have money ready to pay for enrollment. They just can't find you because you don't have a page.

The Three Step Up Scholarships That Apply to Childcare

Florida Tax Credit / Family Empowerment Scholarship (FTC/FES-EO)

Available to Florida residents eligible for K-12 public schooling, regardless of household income. Can be used for private preschool tuition and fees.

Average award: ~$8,000/year

Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA)

For children ages 3 through grade 12 (or age 22, whichever comes first) with a qualifying diagnosis — autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, speech-language impairment, and others. This is the most impactful scholarship for childcare centers.

Average award: ~$10,000–$34,000/year depending on need

Personalized Education Program (PEP)

For students not enrolled in public school or a Florida Home Education Program. Can fund preschool at an eligible private center.

Average award: ~$8,000/year

What Your Step Up Page Must Include

A dedicated Step Up For Students page on your website should do five things: explain the scholarships simply, tell parents which ones you accept, show them how to apply, show them how to use the scholarship at your center, and answer their specific questions about children with unique abilities.

  • Your H1: "We Accept Step Up For Students Scholarships | [Center Name], [City] FL"
  • Opening sentence: Confirm immediately that you accept the scholarship. Don't make parents hunt for it.
  • Scholarship cards: One card per scholarship type with award amount and eligibility summary
  • How to apply: Link directly to stepupforstudents.org with a clear instruction to get an Award ID
  • How to use it at your center: "Call us with your Award ID and we'll handle the rest"
  • Section on children with unique abilities: This is where the FES-UA parents are searching — speak directly to them
  • FAQ section with schema markup: Enables rich snippets in Google search results

H1 Formula for Your Step Up Page

H1: "Step Up For Students Scholarships Accepted | [Center Name] [City] FL"

Meta: "We accept Step Up For Students scholarships including FES-UA at [Center Name] in [City], FL. Average $8,000–$10,000 for eligible families. Call us today."

The FES-UA Opportunity: Children With Unique Abilities

This is the most underserved search category in Florida childcare SEO. Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, or other qualifying diagnoses are not just searching — they are desperately searching. They have a large scholarship ready to spend. They have few options. And almost no childcare center website speaks to them directly.

If your center has even basic experience working with children who have unique needs, a dedicated section of your Step Up page (or a separate page) targeting "FES-UA scholarship [city]" could become your highest-converting page within 60 days.

⚠️ Important Note on Eligibility

To accept Step Up scholarships, your center must register as an approved provider at stepupforstudents.org. This is free and relatively quick. You can confirm your eligibility and register before publishing your page — make sure you're actually enrolled as a provider before marketing that you accept these scholarships.

The Step Up Keywords to Target

  • "Step Up For Students [city] FL" — parents who already have a scholarship searching for a local provider
  • "FES-UA scholarship preschool [city]" — highest value, parents of children with unique abilities
  • "Gardiner Scholarship daycare Florida" — the old name for FES-UA, still searched frequently
  • "FES-UA preschool autism [city]" — parents specifically searching for autism-accepting centers
  • "Step Up For Students daycare that accepts scholarship" — high purchase intent, ready-to-enroll families

Take Action This Week

Register your center at stepupforstudents.org as an approved provider. Then publish a dedicated page using the structure above. This is the fastest path to a meaningful, uncontested SEO ranking in Florida childcare — and it connects you with families who have funding ready and urgently need care.

Want help building your Step Up page? Request your free audit and we'll include Step Up For Students in your keyword gap analysis.