Best Catholic Schools under $20K

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

Our directory includes 69 catholic schools across Florida (Tampa Bay) and New York (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens). Annual tuition ranges from $5.4K/yr to $18.5K/yr, with a median of $10.5K/yr across schools that publish a number. 32 of these schools accept Florida Step Up / FES scholarships — roughly 46% of the list — so families using state-funded scholarships have real choice here.

Catholic schools accept students of all faiths but typically prioritize parish families. Tuition is well below independent-school rates, and most participate in Florida Step Up scholarships. 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

    St. Francis Preparatory School

    Fresh Meadows, Queens County · Grades 9-12

    Tuition
    $12.1K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~2,500 students
  2. 2

    Archbishop Molloy High School

    Briarwood, Queens County · Grades 9-12

    Tuition
    $12.6K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~1,550 students
  3. 3

    Xaverian High School

    Brooklyn, Kings County · Grades 9-12

    Tuition
    $14.3K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~1,100 students
  4. 4

    St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School

    Staten Island, Richmond County · Grades 9-12

    Tuition
    $11.5K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~1,100 students
  5. 5

    Monsignor Farrell High School

    Staten Island, Richmond County · Grades 9-12

    Tuition
    $12.5K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~900 students
  6. 6

    Tampa Catholic High School

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades 9-12

    Tuition
    $16.9K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~800 students
  7. 7

    Holy Cross High School

    Flushing, Queens County · Grades 9-12

    Tuition
    $12.5K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~750 students
  8. 8

    Christ the King Regional High School

    Middle Village, Queens County · Grades 9-12

    Tuition
    $11.5K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~750 students
  9. 9

    St. John's Preparatory School

    Astoria, Queens County · Grades 9-12

    Tuition
    $10.7K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~700 students
  10. 10

    St. Joseph Hill Academy

    Staten Island, Richmond County · Grades PK-12

    Tuition
    $12K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~650 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.

Narrow your search

Combine filters to get a tighter shortlist.

By Grade Level

Other Locations

By Program / Specialty

Frequently asked questions

What's the average tuition for schools?
Across the 69 schools on this list, annual tuition ranges from $5.4K/yr to $18.5K/yr, with a median of $10.5K/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?
32 of the 69 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?
St. Rita Academy Of Hope is the smallest with 16 students; St. Francis Preparatory School is the largest at 2500. 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