Best Middle Schools in Hillsborough County

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

Looking for the best middle schools in Hillsborough County? We track 180 K-12 options that serve middle grades. Annual tuition ranges from $1.5K/yr to $37.0K/yr, with a median of $9.9K/yr across schools that publish a number. Tampa has the highest concentration with 113 schools, followed by Brandon (15). 135 of these schools accept Florida Step Up / FES scholarships — roughly 75% of the list — so families using state-funded scholarships have real choice here.

Middle-school admission is the most competitive transition point at many independent schools. Expect a standardized test (ISEE, SSAT, or in-house), a writing sample, and teacher recommendations from 4th or 5th grade. 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: Pre-K, Elementary, High.

  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

    Carrollwood Day School

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK3-12

    Tuition
    $27K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~1,000 students
  4. 4

    Academy of the Holy Names

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-12

    Tuition
    $24.3K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~1,000 students
  5. 5

    Universal Academy Of Florida

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-12

    Tuition
    $14.9K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~800 students
  6. 6

    Cambridge Christian School

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades K-12

    Tuition
    $15K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~800 students
  7. 7

    Saint Johns Episcopal Parish Day School

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-08

    Tuition
    $21.2K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~600 students
  8. 8

    St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic School

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-8

    Tuition
    $11.5K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~600 students
  9. 9

    Corbett Preparatory School of IDS

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK3-8

    Tuition
    $19.2K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~600 students
  10. 10

    Berkeley Preparatory School

    Tampa, Hillsborough County · Grades PK-12

    Tuition
    $37.0K/yr
    Type
    private
    • ~1,400 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.

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Frequently asked questions

What's the average tuition for middle schools in Hillsborough County?
Across the 180 schools on this list, annual tuition ranges from $1.5K/yr to $37.0K/yr, with a median of $9.9K/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?
135 of the 180 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?
Fortress Christian School is the smallest with 1 students; Berkeley Preparatory School is the largest at 1423. 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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