The Step Up For Students PEP (Partnership for Educational Performance) Scholarship is designed to give eligible Florida students access to quality education by offering financial support to cover specific school-related needs. The scholarship is aimed at helping homeschool students overcome barriers to educational success by offering funds for a variety of services, allowing families more flexibility in tailoring educational experiences to fit their children’s unique needs.
What Does the PEP Scholarship Cover?
The PEP Scholarship provides funding for a wide range of educational expenses that help support student learning and growth. Some of these include:
Tuition and Fees: The scholarship provides financial resources for tuition and fees for homeschool tutoring, enrichment classes and programs.
Tutoring Services: Struggling in a particular subject? Funds can go toward approved tutoring services to give your child the extra help they need.
Books and Curriculum Materials: Essential learning resources like textbooks and other curriculum materials can be covered, making it easier for families to access the tools students need to succeed.
Elective and Extracurricular Activities: One of the greatest joys of homeschooling is the ability to follow and tailor education to your child’s unique interests and abilities. Your PEP funds can support a wide range of activities, from dance, acting, and visual arts to football, travel soccer, sewing, cooking, foreign languages, debate, mechanics—the list goes on. This flexibility allows you to shape a truly customized learning experience that grows with your child’s passions.
How Much Does the Step Up For Students PEP Scholarship Award?
The award amount for the PEP Scholarship varies based on what county you are located in and the “grade” your student is in. The range is approximately $7000 – $8000 per student per year. This amount opens so many doors for homeschooled students who may not otherwise have the financial advantage due to the fact that many homeschooled children only have one parent working to support the family.
This flexibility means families can customize learning to best suit their children, supporting diverse learning styles and needs. The PEP Scholarship provides a fantastic opportunity for eligible Florida families to expand their children’s educational options without shouldering all the financial weight alone.
What I Love About the Step Up For Students PEP Scholarship
The PEP Scholarship offers incredible flexibility and customization, allowing families like mine to truly personalize learning experiences for each child. Here’s what I appreciate most:
Flexible Enrichment and Scheduling: Our kids can join co-ops, enrichment programs, and choose electives like art, theater, and sports on our own schedule. This freedom helps us build a dynamic learning experience that fits into our family life.
Choice in Educators and Leaders: With this scholarship, we have the power to select the programs, teachers, and mentors who will inspire and guide our children. Being able to choose who influences their education means we can align their learning environment with our values.
Tailored to Each Child’s Learning Style: The PEP Scholarship truly supports individual learning styles. For hands-on learners, we can buy supplies for experiments, crafts, and other hands-on activities. For those who thrive on structure, there are countless curriculums with detailed schedules and teacher guides available, making it easy to find the right fit.
Endless Curriculum Options: Nearly any curriculum you can think of is available (as long as it’s safe and age-appropriate). In our family, we even use different curriculums for each child and each subject, tailoring every aspect to fit their unique needs and strengths.
Convenient Scholarship Shop: The scholarship offers an online shop with easy access to teaching resources and materials from trusted retailers like Lakeshore Learning Store, Rainbow Resource, Office Depot, and Best Buy. The shop is stocked with art supplies, books, science kits, equipment for electives, manipulatives for math, general school supplies, classroom furniture, planners, and more!
Overall, the PEP Scholarship has been a fantastic resource that allows us to shape our children’s education in a way that works best for each of them.
What I Don’t Love About the Step Up For Students PEP Scholarship
While the PEP Scholarship offers tremendous opportunities, there are a few areas where it could be improved:
Lack of Coverage for Basic Technology: Unfortunately, the scholarship doesn’t cover essential technology like computers, laptops, tablets, or printers. In today’s world, these are basic necessities for learning, so not having them covered can be a significant drawback.
Inconvenient Reimbursement Process for Out-of-Store Items: If an item isn’t available in the scholarship shop, you have to purchase it with your own funds and wait for reimbursement, which can take anywhere from 30 to 120 days. For families without extra financial resources, this delay can make accessing certain educational tools challenging or even impossible.
Limited Availability of Tutoring and Extracurricular Services: Services like tutoring, music lessons, or sports teams aren’t readily available through the services marketplace, meaning you’ll need to pay upfront and wait for reimbursement. This can create a financial strain, particularly when these are a key piece of your child’s education and learning plan. For some families, this even means their child can’t participate.
Inconsistent Reimbursement Process: The reimbursement process can be unpredictable, with inconsistent decisions on similar items. Even after submitting all required documents (invoice, bank payment proof, and educational benefit form), one month an item might be approved, and the next it’s denied. This lack of consistency makes it difficult to know what will be covered and can be frustrating when trying to get basic items like internet service or dance lessons approved.
These limitations can create a few bumps along the way, but understanding them ahead of time can help families better navigate the scholarship’s benefits and challenges.
Overall, if you’re a homeschooling family in Florida, the PEP Scholarship from Step Up For Students is worth considering. While some families may prefer not to “report” to any program or participate in scholarship initiatives, many families have found that the opportunities this scholarship provides are invaluable. With the PEP Scholarship, students gain access to resources and experiences that may have previously been out of reach, enabling them to grow in ways that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.
If you are currently participating in the PEP Scholarship program what are your likes and dislikes? What would you love to see included in the future?
For more information or to review the parent guide and purchasing guide visit the resources page on the Step Up For Students website.