Florida PEP scholarship 2026-27: amounts, what you can buy and how reimbursements work

How much PEP pays in 2026-27

The Florida Legislature sets the amounts each year in the state budget. Your child's amount depends on two things: the county you listed on your application and your child's grade. Household income doesn't change the amount, but it does decide who gets funded first (see 2027-28).

Volusia County has the lowest amounts and Monroe County the highest; Orange County, for example, is $8,420 for K-3. Step Up publishes the full county table, and your award notice in EMA (Step Up's account system) is the final word.

To look up your child's amount and payment dates, try our free Florida scholarship calculator.

Payment dates and balance deadlines

PEP pays in four equal quarterly payments. The dates below are when the money reaches Step Up; Step Up then has up to two weeks to fund your child's account. Before each payment, the account balance has to be at or below $24,000 by the balance deadline.

On a $8,429 Hillsborough K-3 award, each payment is about $2,107. The fourth payment matters beyond this year: Step Up's handbook ties renewal status to receiving funding in the fourth quarter.

Who PEP is for

• Children 5 or older by September 1 who could enroll in a Florida public school in grades K-12, and who live in Florida (with exceptions for military families).
• Families teaching at home who are not registered as a district homeschool. If your child is registered with your school district under Florida's home education law, you have to end that registration to use PEP. No letter of intent is needed.
• Not full-time public school. Your child can't be enrolled full-time in a public school while receiving PEP, but you can pay privately for individual public school classes or services.

A child with an IEP or a qualifying diagnosis may get more through Florida's Unique Abilities Scholarship (FES-UA) instead, and that one works with a registered district homeschool.

Three ways to spend PEP money

1. Direct payment in the EMA Marketplace. You pay an approved provider (a tutor, class or program) straight from your child's account. Services can only be paid for after they've been provided.
2. MyScholarShop. Step Up's store for curriculum and instructional materials. Orders ship to the Florida mailing address on your account, and purchases can take up to two weeks to process.
3. Reimbursement. You pay out of pocket and submit the receipt in EMA. Requests are due by July 31, 2027, and review can take up to 60 days after your documents are in. If a request is put on hold for missing documents, you have 30 days to send them or it's denied.

Two timing rules catch people: you can only spend 2026-27 money on purchases made between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027, and you can be reimbursed for services paid up to four months in advance (longer only if the provider confirms in writing that the payment is nonrefundable).

What the PEP Purchasing Guide allows

Step Up's 2026-27 PEP Purchasing Guide is the rulebook. The main categories:

• Instructional materials: books (no yearly cap, up to two copies of each), workbooks, ebooks, educational apps and software, school supplies, learning manipulatives like LEGO and puzzles, lab materials, sensory items, musical instruments, home classroom furniture (desks, chairs, bookshelves, a TV up to 55 inches), and in-home internet or a hot spot.
• Curriculum, including self-paced, pre-recorded online courses. Curriculum that isn't sold to the public needs pre-authorization.
• Tuition and fees: part-time or hybrid private school fees, home education instructional programs (co-op style enrichment programs), colleges in Florida (and approved ones out of state) and dual enrollment, approved online or virtual providers, and Florida Virtual School as a private-pay student.
• Tutoring. Part-time tutors need a credential, such as a Florida teaching certificate, a bachelor's degree in the subject or certification in a program like Orton-Gillingham.
• Electives and P.E.: art, music, dance and sports lessons, club fees (Scouts, 4-H, FFA), team fees and sports equipment, and a gym membership for the student.
• Field trips: student admission to zoos, aquariums, museums, state and national parks and plays, and memberships to those places. Leisure outings like bowling or trampoline parks under $75.
• One Florida theme park ticket a year, up to $299 before tax, submitted as its own reimbursement request.
• Tests: the norm-referenced test PEP requires, AP exams, placement and certification exams.

Many larger items, including TVs, projectors, bicycles, playsets, exercise equipment and elective equipment, are limited to one every two years, across all of Step Up's scholarships. Items several people use are prorated to your child's share.

What PEP won't pay for

• Full-time online school
• Concerts, sporting events, lodging, meals, transportation, parking and souvenirs, even on an approved field trip
• Out-of-state theme parks, and any water or amusement park beyond the one Florida theme park ticket
• Gaming systems and gaming subscriptions
• Pools, bounce houses, motorized equipment and household improvements
• Food and drinks, pets, and medical items like hearing aids or non-prescription glasses
• Cash payments to private sellers, and resale tickets

Pre-authorization

Some purchases need approval before you buy: curriculum that isn't publicly available, anything over a frequency limit, field trips and P.E. activities outside Florida, video-based sports instruction, replacement eyeglasses, and anything the Purchasing Guide doesn't list. Requests need documents, the approximate cost and how it helps your child's education.

• The last day to submit is May 28, 2027.
• Review can take up to 60 days, and denials can't be appealed.
• What you buy has to match what was approved, and approval only covers the school year it was given for.

The $24,000 balance cap and rollover

Money you don't spend rolls over to future years as long as your child stays eligible. But Florida law stops Step Up from paying into an account with more than $24,000 in it. If your child's balance is over $24,000 on a balance deadline, that quarter's payment won't be made. If you saved nearly all of a typical award, you'd reach the cap in about three years.

Two other ways to lose the money:

• Inactivity: the account is closed and the money goes back to the state after two fiscal years in a row (July 1 to June 30) with no spending.
• Fraud or misuse: the account can be closed if the state finds the student ineligible because of fraud or abuse.

Learning plan, testing and attestations

• Student Learning Plan: a plan you write in EMA for each child and update every year before renewal. For 2026-27 it was due May 31, 2026, and a late first plan makes the student ineligible for that year. The plan doesn't limit what you can buy.
• Annual test: renewing students take a nationally norm-referenced test or a Florida statewide assessment each year and submit the results in EMA before renewal. For 2026-27 renewals the deadline was May 31, 2026. The test fee is an allowed expense.
• Public school attestation: new families funded in September confirm in EMA by Sep 15, 2026 that their child isn't enrolled full-time in public school. Some new students also have to upload proof of withdrawal from public school before the second or third payment.

Step Up hasn't published the 2027-28 dates yet. Plan on the Student Learning Plan and test results being due around the end of May 2027, and check the 2027-28 scholarship schedule when it's posted.

Records to keep

EMA keeps your requests, but a denied reimbursement is usually a documentation problem. Keep your own copy of:

• An itemized invoice and proof of payment for every reimbursement
• The Purchasing Guide category you filed it under
• The tutor's or provider's credential, when the category needs one
• Your child's share, for anything several children use
• Pre-authorization approvals, with the item exactly as approved
• The submission date and status of each request, so you can follow up after 60 days
• Each year's Student Learning Plan and test results
• Your award notice and any attestation confirmations

What's next for 2027-28

• Applications and renewals run from February 1 to April 30, and families accept or decline by May 31, under Florida law. For 2026-27 a few late applications were allowed through April 15, 2027, but funding isn't guaranteed.
• Renewing students come first. New students are funded by household income: first families at or below 185% of the federal poverty level, then 185% to 400%, then everyone else on a first-come, first-served basis as money remains.
• The enrollment cap ends. The law limited PEP to 20,000 students in 2023-24, rising by 40,000 a year, and that limit is repealed on July 1, 2027. Money is still the real limit: PEP is funded mostly by tax-credit donations, and more than 100,000 families have shown interest, according to Step Up.

Quick answers

Tools to keep PEP simple

Sources

• 2026-27 PEP Family Handbook (opens in a new tab), Step Up For Students (eligibility, spending, reimbursements, attestations, rollover; last modified Oct 28, 2026)
• 2026-27 PEP Purchasing Guide (opens in a new tab), Step Up For Students (categories, prohibited items, frequency limits, pre-authorization; last modified Oct 28, 2026)
• 2026-27 Scholarship Schedule (opens in a new tab), Step Up For Students (payment, balance and attestation dates)
• FAQs for 2026-27 deadlines and payment schedules (opens in a new tab), Step Up For Students (updated Aug 31, 2026)
• 2026-27 scholarship amounts by county (opens in a new tab), Step Up For Students
• Florida Statutes s. 1002.395 (2026) (opens in a new tab) (enrollment limit and its repeal, $24,000 cap, learning plan, testing, application window)
• Some Florida homeschool parents are denied state funding. But why? (opens in a new tab), WUSF, Aug 13, 2026 (funding priority and demand)