Best Lutheran Pre-K Schools under $20K

9 schools match. Top 9 ranked by size, tuition fit, and freshness of our data.

We track 9 lutheran pre-k-level schools across our active markets in Florida and New York. Annual tuition ranges from $3.7K/yr to $18.2K/yr, with a median of $8.7K/yr across schools that publish a number. 8 of these schools accept Florida Step Up / FES scholarships — roughly 89% of the list — so families using state-funded scholarships have real choice here.

Admissions processes vary by school. AdmitCompass surfaces the deadlines, test requirements, and tuition for each campus on its detail page, so families can build a balanced reach / target / safety list. 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

    Lutheran Church Of The Cross Day School

    St. Petersburg, Pinellas County · Grades PK-08

    Tuition
    $18.2K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~500 students
  2. 2

    Grace Lutheran School

    Saint Petersburg, Pinellas County · Grades PK-08

    Tuition
    $7.2K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~300 students
  3. 3

    Family Of Christ Lutheran School

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-08

    Tuition
    $8.9K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~250 students
  4. 4

    Holy Trinity Lutheran

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-08

    Tuition
    $6.0K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~250 students
  5. 5

    Our Savior Lutheran School

    Saint Petersburg, Pinellas County · Grades PK-08

    Tuition
    $9.8K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~200 students
  6. 6

    Immanuel Lutheran School

    Brandon, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-08

    Tuition
    $8.8K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~190 students
  7. 7

    Northdale Christian Academy

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-08

    Tuition
    $8.7K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~100 students
  8. 8

    First Lutheran School

    Clearwater, Pinellas County · Grades PK-08

    Tuition
    $7.0K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~80 students
  9. 9

    Bay Pines Lutheran School

    Seminole, Pinellas County · Grades PK-08

    Tuition
    $3.7K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~60 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 pre-k schools?
Across the 9 schools on this list, annual tuition ranges from $3.7K/yr to $18.2K/yr, with a median of $8.7K/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?
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?
8 of the 9 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?
Bay Pines Lutheran School is the smallest with 62 students; Lutheran Church Of The Cross Day School is the largest at 508. 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.

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