Parents of a child with a learning difference often spend weeks calling schools to ask one question: "Can you serve my child?" Florida already collects a first answer. On its annual survey, every private school can list the disability categories it serves, and the state publishes that list in its private school directory. In the Hillsborough district, 102 of 203 schools filled it in.
Combined with the Unique Abilities Scholarship (FES-UA), that list turns a long search into a short one.
What Hillsborough schools report
From the October 17, 2026 state directory, these are the categories most often reported by Hillsborough private schools:
- Specific learning disability (including dyslexia and dyscalculia): 69 schools
- Speech impairment: 63
- Autism spectrum disorder: 59
- Language impairment: 56
- Developmentally delayed (ages 3-5): 54
- Gifted: 52
- Emotional/behavioral disability: 42
- Other health impairment (which includes ADHD): 41
- Intellectual disability: 36
Smaller numbers report serving students who are deaf or hard of hearing (14), visually impaired (11), orthopedically impaired (8) or who have a traumatic brain injury (9). Some schools also list therapy services such as occupational therapy (16) and physical therapy (8).
What "reports serving" does and doesn't mean
The list is self-reported. It tells you a school believes it can serve a category. It doesn't tell you how many such students are enrolled, whether a seat is open, or how much support is built into the day. Treat it as a filter, not a guarantee. Then call with specific questions: Which of these categories do you have capacity for this year? Who provides services on campus? Can my FES-UA account pay for on-campus therapy?
How FES-UA pays for it
The Unique Abilities Scholarship is an education savings account for students from age 3 through grade 12 with a qualifying diagnosis or IEP. It averages about $10,000, and the amount depends on grade, county and the services matrix. Unlike the standard Private School Scholarship, the money can be split: tuition at a private school, plus a speech-language pathologist, plus a reading tutor, plus curriculum or assistive technology. Our spending guide lists what each category allows.
Eligibility rests on documentation: a diagnosis from a licensed physician or psychologist (or a qualifying professional acting under one), or an existing IEP. Income doesn't matter.
Participation is the other filter
A school can serve a category and still not take FES-UA. In Hillsborough, 143 schools carry the state's FES-UA participant flag. The strongest shortlist is schools that both report your child's category and participate in FES-UA. Each school page on this site shows both, and our Unique Abilities hub groups schools by diagnosis.
Picking between FES-UA and the standard award
A student can hold only one of them. For a child who needs therapies or tutoring in addition to school, FES-UA's flexibility usually wins. For a child whose needs a school fully covers, the standard Hillsborough award ($8,429 for K-3 in 2026-27) may be simpler. Both programs share the same new-family deadline for 2026-27: November 15, 2026.
A practical sequence
- Get the diagnosis or IEP documentation in hand.
- Shortlist schools that report your child's category and carry the FES-UA flag.
- Call with capacity and services questions, and visit.
- Apply for FES-UA before November 15 (or from February 1, 2027 for next year).
- Plan the account: tuition first, then therapies and tutoring.
If you'd like help building that plan, the funding check takes two minutes.