| Dear Parent/Guardian, Exciting news! You may NOW apply for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) or Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO) for the 2023-24 school year for your student. Through these programs, there are three ways touse the scholarship: tuition and fee assistance to an eligible private school, transportation assistance to a public school different than the one your student is assigned to, or to meet the educational needs of students who are not enrolled in full-time private or public school through the Personalized Education Program (PEP). If you have another student that you’d like considered for the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA), you may also apply for that program now. HOW TO APPLY: You will apply for your student’s scholarship through our new scholarship management platform: “EMA,” your Education Market Assistant. With EMA, families will have only ONE account where they can manage the scholarships for all their students across multipleStep Up For Students programs. To ensure efficient processing, families should not create multiple EMA accounts. For NEW applications: Families MUST use the “ADD A STUDENT” tool. If you are applying formore than one student, you will add all students you are applying for through Step Up into one account in EMA. (Please note: The “Find My Students” functionality is only for students who received scholarship funding through Step Up for the 2022-23 school year.) |
| Please see the Scholarship Application Checklist to view the documents you MUST submit, including proof of residency and a social security number for you and your student. Note: If you or your student do not have a social security number, leave this question blank; however, you will only be considered for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship. For the 2023-24 school year, renewal students (those who utilized the scholarship for the 2022-23 school year) have priority among new students. Priority for new students will be given to families whose household income is 400% or below the federal poverty guidelines. To view the income guidelines, please view the “Who Is Eligible” section on this page. Failure toaccurately present your income may cause delays in the processing of your application.If your family’s household income is above 400% of the federal poverty level and you do not want toupload income documents, you will need to submit this form when you apply. READY TO GET STARTED? Click on the blue “CLICK HERE TO APPLY FOR A SCHOLARSHIP” button below for next steps, including resources toguide you through the process. We strongly encourage you to review ALL resources on the page before beginning. Note: If you do not wish to enroll your student in full-time private or public school and are interested in using the scholarship for other educational needs, the Personalized Education Program (PEP) may be an option for your child. You will need to apply as a private school student at this time. Information on how to request the PEP option will be provided after a student is awarded. |
| Having trouble adding your student? Please click here for support. WHAT TO EXPECT AFTER SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION: Click here to find out. Questions?🗨️ Chat with a live agent at www.sufs.org. Please click here to view our contact information. Thank you, Step Up For Students |
During the 23-24 school year, there are two Florida scholarships that will be administered.
Florida Tax Credit (FTC/FES-EO)
Specific to HB1, the Florida Tax Credit (FES-EO) scholarships will be available to all students who attend a private school, regardless of income. There will be budgetary limits for this scholarship so it is imperative that families apply soon and provide all required documentation if seeking a state scholarship which can be used to pay for private school tuition and fees. As an example, if tuition is $15,000 and the family receives a state scholarship of $7,000 used towards tuition, then the family would pay the variance of $8,000. We are hopeful that all our families will benefit from this most recent legislative change.
Unique Abilities (FES-UA)
The second scholarship is the FES-UA (formerly Gardiner) scholarship. This program requires that a student qualify based on an eligible medical diagnosis, an IEP, or a 504 plan. For more information, please visit Florida Unique Abilities Scholarship. If your child qualifies for this scholarship, funding is typically greater than the funding provided by the FTC/FES-EO scholarship.
Application Process
As with prior years, there are two agencies that administer both scholarships: Step Up for Students and AAA Scholarships. We suggest that families apply to both agencies as they each have independent budgets.
AAA Scholarships is currently accepting applications for 23-24. You may apply by using their website: www.aaaScholarships.org.
The Step Up for Students application portal is currently open for renewing FES-UA and renewing FES EO/FTC students. (Please note the FES EO/FTC scholarship is now being referred to as the Private School and Transportation Scholarship). If you are a current recipient or new to Step Up, please use this link to log-in or to create a Step Up account.