Tuition & Affordability
Investing in Your Child's Future
Thank you for considering a Carrollwood Day School education for your family. For most families, investing in an independent school education requires careful financial planning. As you will learn through the admissions process, families find great value in the CDS educational experience and the heuristic way in which we prepare our students for the future.
As a school, we seek to admit talented and motivated students. Central to preparing our students for this world is creating a diverse academic community. In fact, research has proven that a diverse environment leads to better learning outcomes for all students. Therefore, families who feel the full tuition cost is out of their reach should not hesitate to visit or apply to the school. We are here to help you determine the best options for your family with this very important educational investment.
The Patriot Eagle Scholarship and Robin Moir Vanguard Awards at Carrollwood Day School are available to a limited number of high-achieving rising 9th-grade students, both current and incoming. These awards are intended for students who have demonstrated academic excellence and the potential for a distinguished upper school academic career. Rising 9th-grade students are selected annually to apply based on high standardized test scores, relative achievement in class, and success in rigorous courses. Recipients of these awards are promising candidates for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, Cum Laude, and National Merit distinctions. The award renews annually provided they continue to meet standards of academic excellence.
Merit Scholarships
Carrollwood Day School offers two unique opportunities for a select group of outstanding rising 9th-grade students. The Patriot Eagle Scholarship and Robin Moir Vanguard Awards are for current CDS students who have demonstrated readiness for a challenging Upper School career and are promising candidates for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. In addition, one Patriot Eagle Scholarship is awarded to an incoming, new 9th grade student. These awards are renewable annually for the three years following a recipient's freshman year if certain criteria are met.
Need Based Assistance
Carrollwood Day School desires to provide financial assistance to academically qualified students with demonstrated needs. We use a third party, FACTS Grant & Aid Assessment, to process our need applications and help determine a family's ability to pay. Requests for aid generally outpace funds available and are allocated based upon merit and spots available within a division or grade. Application and decisions on aid awards are made annually and aid must be reapplied each year. CDS offers financial assistance only in grades 1 - 12 with openings for those who qualify.
Applications open November 1st and must be received by January 15th to be considered for the first round of new aid decisions. They are reviewed by the Financial Aid Committee and remain confidential within that group. Recipients of aid awards are also expected to maintain confidentiality regarding any award they receive or they may have their award revoked.
Carrollwood Day School follows a need-blind admissions policy. This means that students are considered for admission independent of their need for financial assistance.
For more information Contact the Admissions Office or call Dawn Schweitzer at 813.920.2288.
AT THIS TIME CDS DOES NOT ACCEPT ANY NEW STATE FUNDED SCHOLARSHIPS.
HB1 School Choice Expansion Explanation
Recently, there has been increased interest in state-funded scholarships since the expansion of the program through House Bill 1. Three years ago, CDS stopped accepting new state-funded scholarships, such as Step Up, while honoring existing state-funded scholarship agreements with enrolled families. Our intention is to exit the program entirely as the last recipients graduate or shift to our internal financial aid program.*
We made the decision to stop accepting state-funded scholarships to maintain our independent status. As an independent school, we are committed to maintaining full control over and responsibility for the content and quality of our curriculum and culture.
Our school leaders recognize that tuition and affordability are important considerations for CDS families, and we are proud to continue to offer a need-based tuition assistance program for which interested families can still apply.
*Our name will remain listed on the website as accepting the scholarships until the legacy recipients graduate or are moved to our financial aid program, which has caused some confusion, but we are not accepting any new state-funded scholarships.