Policy Changelog

Entering Your Information

Added:

• Guidance for changes in guardianship or the passing of a parent/guardian.

Clarified:

• Parents or guardians must select "FL homeschool" as their expected school on the application when using PEP for home education or hybrid private school.

Uploading Required Documentation

Added:

• Residential Internet Bill as proof of Florida residency.
• New sections for active-duty military families and students with foster status.
• A parent or guardian in the US armed forces with a legal domicile in Florida but who is currently on orders to another state are not eligible to apply for the scholarship for the first time (7/30 update).

Determining Your Annual Assessment and Student Learning Plan Requirements

Clarified:

• Student Status and Annual Assessment and Student Learning Plan Required actions are now shown in a chart.
• July 1 deadline for submitting test scores and May 31 deadline for submitting Student Learning Plans.
• 2024-2025 PEP students applying for FTC, FES-EO, or FES-UA must still submit annual assessment results from the 2024-2025 school year (7/30 update).

How To Accept The Scholarship Timeline

Added:

• New and renewal applicants must accept or deny the scholarship by May 31, 2025.

Capacity Limitations

Added:

• PEP has a statutory capacity limit of up to 100,000 students for the 2025-2026 school year.

Enrollment Requirements After Being Awarded

Clarified:

• PEP scholarship students may not enroll in full-time eligible private school unless they are attending a hybrid eligible private school.

Added:

• A student cannot receive both the PEP scholarship and be reported enrolled by a public school. This is prohibited, as it would constitute the student being funded twice by the state. Therefore, parents and guardians of PEP students accessing individual classes and services must ensure that the public school or district reports the student as privately paying. Otherwise, the student may be incorrectly reported as enrolled in public school, which could result in the loss of the scholarship.
• Public School Enrollment Prohibition section (7/30 update).
• Standard Withdrawal Form for Students Entering K-12 Scholarships (Form IEPC-SWF).

Scholarship Funding

Added:

• The funding amount, based on the student's grade level and county of residence as entered by the parent or guardian on the application, will be determined by Quarter 1 funding.
• 2025-2026 Funding Chart (7/30 update).

Funding Schedule

Added:

• Quarterly funding disbursement calendar.
• Interest accrual and deposit timeline.

Clarified:

• If a Student Learning Plan is not received prior to funding distribution, the student will be required to wait until the following quarter to receive scholarship funds.

Funding Proration

Removed:

• Funding Proration section.

Funding Rollover and Balance Limits

Added:

• Florida law prohibits depositing additional funds into a student's scholarship account if the scholarship account balance exceeds $24,000.

Funding Transfers Among Scholarship Funding Organizations

Added:

• Scenarios and guidance for transferring between scholarship funding organizations depending on funding status.
• Added 'Funding Discontinuation' and 'Funding Revocation' sections.

Authorized Uses of Scholarship Program Funds

Added:

• Link to the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) as an eligible post-secondary institution.
• Link to FLDOE's eligible postsecondary institution web page.

Clarified:

• Renamed "standardized testing fees" to "testing and academic services" to include a broader range of evaluations.

Shipping Guidelines

Added:

• MyScholarShop orders must be shipped to the Florida mailing address listed on the student's scholarship account.
• Reimbursed purchases must ship to a Florida address or P.O Box.
• All shipping types, including import/export duty, expedited, and overnight fees are eligible uses of scholarship funds and are reimbursable.
• Parents/guardians who are active-duty members of the United States Armed Forces and received permanent change of station orders to this state or, at the time of renewal, whose home of record or state of legal residence is Florida are exempt from this and may have items shipped outside of Florida.

Fees Guidelines

Added:

• Shipping fees: All shipping types, including import/export duty, expedited, and overnight fees are eligible uses of scholarship funds and are reimbursable.
• Credit card fees: Credit card fees are reimbursable with the exception of credit card fees added to a private school tuition and fees invoice.

Pre-Authorization Requests

Added:

• Parents and guardians should allow up to sixty (60) days for pre-authorization requests to be reviewed and processed after all required documentation has been submitted.
• Deadline to submit pre-authorization requests of May 29, 2026.

Reimbursement Timeline

Added:

• Deadline to submit 2025-2026 reimbursements is July 31, 2026.
• Table showing purchase dates and reimbursement request windows.

Eligible Reimbursements Before Scholarship Year Begins

Added:

• Dual enrollment classes.
• Postsecondary institution tuition and fees.

Clarified:

• Fees for eligible private school or Home Education Instructional Program (HEIP) can be paid for and reimbursed in the previous school year, if the parent has funds available to do so.

Eligible Reimbursements for Advance Services

Added:

• Parents and guardians can apply for reimbursement for services up to four months in advance.

Supporting Documentation for Proof of Payment

Clarified:

• The last four digits of a credit or debit card can serve as proof of purchase (7/30 update).

Internet Resources (Including Mobile Hot Spots and Streaming Services)

Added:

• Requirements for documentation when submitting internet reimbursement requests.

Physical Education (P.E.)

Removed:

• Requirement for student name and instructor name to appear on invoices or receipts.

Documentation of Credentials

Added:

• Credentials part-time tutoring and choice navigator services must be provided in English.
• A full LinkedIn profile may be used to verify provider employment history.

Tuition & Fees At An Eligible Private School

Added:

• A list of eligible fees and prohibited private school fees.

Tuition & Fees For An Eligible Postsecondary Institution, A Home Education Instructional Program, or An Approved Online or Virtual Provider

Added:

• Requirements for first-time Home Education Instructional program providers who have not been previously vetted.

Additional Purchasing Provisions

Removed:

• The Educational Benefit Form requirement, as the Pre-Authorization Form already includes a request for clarification about the educational benefit of the item(s).

Leaving the scholarship Program

Added:

• Step-by-step instructions for families who want to decline the scholarship.

Appendix A

Added:

• Authorized Use of Scholarship Funds Chart.

MyScholarShop

Removed:

• MSS Status definitions, as they will be changing.