Step Up For Students Scholarship Resources
Step Up For Students recently updated their Family Handbooks and made them more intuitive and user friendly. Click on the link to review the most updated version of the family handbook: Step Up For Students Family Handbooks
As of Wednesday, October 28, 2026, the following updates were made to the FTC/ FES-EO and FES-UA Scholarships:
Private School Family Handbook (FTC/FES-EO)
- Application Deadline Exceptions:
- Active-duty U.S. military and students in foster or out-of-home care can open their own application past the application deadline without needing to call SUFS.
- Students cannot use their deadline exception status to switch scholarship programs later in the year. Such exceptions are only for first-time applications.
- Switching Between Scholarship Programs
- Awarded families should confirm or decline their initial scholarship or scholarship update by June 15, 2026, for renewal students and July 15, 2026, for new students to remain eligible for full-year funding consideration, subject to Florida Department of Education approval and all applicable deadlines.
- Families who want to decline funding for Quarters 1 and 2 and may want to reaccept for Quarters 3 and 4 must decline by June 15, 2026, for renewal students and July 15, 2026, for new students.
- Families should only accept a scholarship if the student will use it at the start of the school year. If the student is presented for funding and is found enrolled full-time in a Florida public school, the scholarship will be forfeited for the year.
- How To Get Your Scholarship Funds:
- Scholarship amount is based on factors present when the student is submitted for funding for the first time in the school year.
- Any changes to grade level or county of residence made after FLDOE assigns the funding award amount will not change the funding award amount.
- Eligible Expenses -> Frequency of Purchase Limits
- As of October 28: Prescription eyeglasses may be eligible for earlier replacement with pre-authorization when documentation shows they are broken beyond repair or the student’s prescription changed
FES-UA Family Handbook
- Eligibility: Students can enroll in kindergarten at any age.
- Documenting a Qualifying Diagnosis or IEP: A Florida-licensed Physician assistant legally authorized to sign or certify documentation on behalf of a Florida-licensed Physician can now validate a student’s diagnosis.
- Eligible Expenses: Tuition and fees at a Hybrid Eligible Private School are eligible expenses.
- Student Learning Plan: FES-UA students enrolled in a Hybrid Eligible Private School who attend in-person at least two (2) full school days per week must submit a Student Learning Plan (SLP) addressing the remaining instructional time.
- Stanley G. Tate Florida Prepaid College Program (Prepaid 529 Plan): The Stanley G. Tate Florida Prepaid College Program (Prepaid 529 Plan) transitioned from reimbursement to direct pay only on June 30th, 2026. Scholarship funds that are transferred to a Florida Prepaid account (Prepaid 529 Plan and Investment 529 Plan) remain subject to both the terms and conditions of Florida Prepaid and the rights and restrictions of the scholarship program under Florida Statute 1002.394.
- As of October 28: An assistive technology device may be eligible for earlier replacement with pre-authorization when documentation shows the device is broken beyond repair, or the student’s prescription has changed.
- Funding Revocation: If a scholarship account is closed, any scholarship funds deposited into a Florida Prepaid or 529 account must be returned to the state.
- Appendix A:
- Dual Sensory Impairment includes both hearing loss and visual impairment, or a diagnosis indicating potential dual sensory loss, when the combined impact adversely affects educational performance.
- For Other Health Impairment conditions not listed in the rule, documentation must explain how the condition affects strength, vitality, or alertness and adversely affects educational performance.
- A Visual Impairment diagnosis and a Speech Impairment diagnosis must be provided by a licensed professional listed under the Documenting a Qualifying Diagnosis or IEP section.
