Best Elementary Schools in Hillsborough County under $20K

94 schools match. Top 10 ranked by size, tuition fit, and freshness of our data.

Looking for the best elementary schools in Hillsborough County? We track 94 K-12 options that serve elementary grades. Annual tuition ranges from $1.5K/yr to $19.2K/yr, with a median of $9.4K/yr across schools that publish a number. Tampa has the highest concentration with 50 schools, followed by Brandon (10). 87 of these schools accept Florida Step Up / FES scholarships — roughly 93% of the list — so families using state-funded scholarships have real choice here.

Elementary admissions decisions tend to weigh family fit and developmental readiness more than test scores. Most schools assess via a play-based visit at age 4-5 and rolling interviews for K-5 transfers. Every school is re-verified through direct outreach to admissions teams; data is refreshed on a 180-day cadence and timestamped on each profile.

See also: Scholarship-friendly, Tuition-Free.

  1. 1

    Seffner Christian Academy

    Seffner, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-12

    Tuition
    $14.5K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~1,250 students
  2. 2

    American Youth Academy

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-12

    Tuition
    $12.2K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~1,200 students
  3. 3

    Universal Academy Of Florida

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-12

    Tuition
    $14.9K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~800 students
  4. 4

    Cambridge Christian School

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades K-12

    Tuition
    $15K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~800 students
  5. 5

    St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic School

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-8

    Tuition
    $11.5K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~600 students
  6. 6

    Corbett Preparatory School of IDS

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK3-8

    Tuition
    $19.2K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~600 students
  7. 7

    Christ the King Catholic School

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-8

    Tuition
    $11K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~500 students
  8. 8

    Tampa Bay Christian Academy

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-12

    Tuition
    $10.5K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~500 students
  9. 9

    Florida College

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades KG-12

    Tuition
    $10.5K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~450 students
  10. 10

    Citrus Park Christian School

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-12

    Tuition
    $15K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~450 students
How we rank these schools

Built relationships, not scrapers. AdmitCompass ranks schools using a composite score that blends four signals: enrollment size (a proxy for stability and program breadth), tuition reasonableness within the local market, freshness of our most recent verification, and a small bonus for schools with full admissions detail published on their profile.

Public data comes from the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE), the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and each school's own admissions pages. The information that actually matters to most families — acceptance rates, deadlines, what a director cares about — comes from direct interviews with school directors and admissions coaches across our active markets.

We do not publish scoring weights or per-axis thresholds. That keeps the moat intact: the rankings reflect actual conversations with people inside schools, not a formula anyone with a crawler could clone. Every profile is re-verified on a 180-day cadence, and the "last updated" date is timestamped on every school page.

Read the full methodology.

Frequently asked questions

What's the average tuition for elementary schools in Hillsborough County?
Across the 94 schools on this list, annual tuition ranges from $1.5K/yr to $19.2K/yr, with a median of $9.4K/yr. Many schools offer financial aid, sibling discounts, or accept Florida Step Up / FES scholarships — check each school's detail page for current aid policy.
How competitive is admission in Hillsborough County?
Admissions selectivity ranges from open-enrollment (most charters and parish schools) to highly selective (top independent K-12 programs). Each school's profile page lists deadlines, test requirements, and any published acceptance rate.
Do these schools accept Step Up / FES scholarships?
87 of the 94 schools on this page accept Florida's Step Up For Students / FES-EO / FES-UA scholarships. That covers most or all of tuition for income-eligible families. Each school's detail page lists the specific scholarship programs accepted.
What's the smallest and largest school on this list?
Faith Christian Academy - Falcon Academy is the smallest with 1 students; Seffner Christian Academy is the largest at 1230. Smaller schools tend to offer more direct teacher contact and tighter community; larger schools usually have more elective and extracurricular breadth.
Is this list updated?
Yes. We re-verify school data on a 180-day cadence through direct contact with admissions teams, plus cross-checks against FLDOE, NCES, and published school sources. Each school profile shows the date of its most recent verification.

Related lists

Adjacent searches families often run from here.

See your child's personalized match

Our 2-minute quiz factors in grades, budget, location, and goals to surface the best-fit schools from this list.

Find your match — take the 2-minute quiz