• The law eliminates income restrictions on the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO) and Florida Tax Credit (FTC) scholarships, making all children of Florida residents who are eligible to attend public school in grades K-12 eligible for a scholarship.
• Converts the FES-EO and the FTC into an education savings account (ESA) program which allows parents and guardians to pay for more than just tuition and fees at private schools. The scholarship could now help pay for private school, curriculum, textbooks, instructional materials, digital materials and assessments, and more.
• Creates the Personalized Education Program (PEP) which provides funds to families who wish to home educate using a state-funded ESA. (More information on this program can be found below.)

The law takes effect on July 1, 2023.

Applications for the 2023-24 school year will become available later this spring. New families interested in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) or the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO), including PEP students, may sign up here to receive a notification from Step Up For Students when the application is available. Those interested in the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA) may sign up here to be notified when the application is available.

Scholarship amounts are set by the Florida Department of Education. Scholarship amounts for the 2023-24 school year will not be available until this summer. Scholarship amounts will vary from county to county and by grade level. The scholarship amounts for the current school year may be seen here for the FTC and FES-EO programs and here for the FES-UA program.

A waitlist will depend on the number of families who apply for each scholarship program. We anticipate high demand for the current scholarship programs, as well as for the PEP student program, so apply as early as possible. PEP, specifically, is limited to 20,000 students in the 2023-24 school year and may grow by 40,000 in each subsequent year. (More details on PEP can be found below.)

PEP, funded through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, is an education savings account program that allows parents to customize the education of students who are not attending public or private schools full-time. PEP will allow parents to purchase instructional materials, pay for part-time tuition at public or private schools and even tuition and fees in home education instructional programs.

• Must be registered with a Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) approved scholarship-funding organization (SFO)
• Must not be enrolled full-time in a public school, charter school, school for the deaf and blind, college preparatory academy, a developmental research school, or juvenile justice school.
• Be at least age 5 by Sept 1, of the school year in which they wish to enroll.
• Must annually submit a Student Learning Plan (SLP) to the SFO.
• Must take a FLDOE approved national norm-referenced test and submit results to the SFO.
• Must complete a sworn compliance statement through the SFO.

• A Student Learning Plan (SLP) is a customized learning plan developed by parents at least annually to guide instruction for their students and to address the services needed to fulfill the academic needs of their student.
• SLPs are only required for students on the Personalized Education Program.

Parents apply for the scholarship through a scholarship-funding organization like Step Up For Students

Applications for the 2023-24 school year will become available later this spring. To receive a notification from Step Up For Students when applications become available, please sign up here.

The law limits the program to 20,000 students for the 2023-24 school year. The program will grow by 40,000 students per year thereafter.

HB1 requires PEP students to be funded through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC). FTC and PEP students are both using the same funding source.

It will be collected by their SFO and sent to FSU for score reporting.

Yes, a student cannot be both registered in the PEP program and as a home education program student with the district. You will need to notify your school district of your intention to terminate your home education program and enroll as a PEP student through an SFO.

• The FES-EO program is now an education savings account (ESA) program instead of a traditional scholarship that only pays for tuition and fees.
• There is no longer an income-cap on eligibility. All students who are eligible to attend public school in grades K-12 are now eligible for FES-EO.

The scholarship awards will first pay for tuition and fees at eligible private schools. Remaining funds can be used to pay for instructional material (including digital materials and internet resources), curriculum, tuition for full-time or part-time education at an eligible postsecondary educational institution or approved apprenticeship program, fees for nationally standardized norm-referenced tests and other assessments, contracted services provided by a public school or school district, an approved online course, tuition as a private pay student at Florida Virtual School, and fees for a “Choice Navigator.” (More information on “Choice Navigators” can be found below.)

A student who is a resident of the state of Florida and is eligible to enroll in kindergarten through 12th grade in a public school in the state.

Now that all students eligible for public K-12 school are eligible for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) and Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO), there are no longer statutory program caps. Due to this change, there is no longer a need to have certain groups, such as military and law enforcement families, considered outside of the cap for FES-EO.

Yes, everyone eligible for public K-12 school is now eligible for the FES-EO.

This bill does not impact the cap exemptions on scholarships for students with unique abilities. Exempt students will still be able to receive a scholarship, even if there is a waitlist.

The legislature has increased the percentage in which the FES-UA program cap will grow. However, a waitlist will depend on the number of families who apply for the scholarship. We encourage everyone who is eligible to apply when applications become available. To receive a notification from Step Up For Students when applications become available, please sign up here.

A Choice Navigator is an optional service provider intended to help guide parents through the myriad of choices that will become available to them through an education savings account.

A Choice Navigator holds a valid Florida teacher certification, adjunct teacher certification, a bachelor or graduate degree in the subject area where any instruction is given, demonstrated mastery of subject area knowledge, or is certified through training from an internationally recognized research-based training program approved by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE).

The cost of the service will be determined by each Choice Navigator.

No, they are optional for all scholarship students. They are intended to help guide parents and guardians through the many educational choices available to them.

• A Student Learning Plan (SLP) is a customized learning plan developed by parents at least annually to guide instruction for their students and to address the services needed to fulfill the academic needs of their student.
• SLPs are only required for PEP students.

Scholarship amounts are set by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE). Scholarship amounts for the 2023-24 school year will not be available until this summer. Scholarship amounts will vary from county to county and by grade level. The scholarship amounts for the current school year may be seen here for the FTC and FES-EO programs and here for the FES-UA program.

• For FES-EO: Scholarship-funding organizations (SFOs) are not allowed to transfer any scholarship funds to eligible students who have more than $24,000 in their scholarship account.
• For FTC: SFOs are not allowed to transfer any scholarship funds to eligible students who have more than $24,000 in their scholarship account.
• For PEP: SFOs are not allowed to transfer any scholarship funds to eligible students who have more than $24,000 in their scholarship account.
• For FES-UA: SFOs are not allowed to transfer any scholarship funds to eligible students who have more than $50,000 in their scholarship account.

A Choice Navigator holds a valid Florida teacher certification, adjunct teacher certification, a bachelor or graduate degree in the subject area where any instruction is given, demonstrated mastery of subject area knowledge, or is certified through training from an internationally recognized research-based training program approved by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE).

The cost of the service will be determined by each Choice Navigator.

No, they are optional for all scholarship students. They are intended to help guide parents and guardians through the many educational choices available to them.

No. The Choice Navigator is only intended to be a guide and has no control over your educational choices, instruction, or curriculum.

Yes, but only for participating private schools approved by the FLDOE.

Parents with students on the FES-EO or FTC scholarships must agree to have SFOs commit scholarship funds on their behalf for tuition/fees at a private school before spending remaining funds on additional authorized uses.

For FES-UA: Yes. The bill does not impact current FES-UA enrollment cap exemptions.
For FES-EO: Since everyone who is eligible for K-12 public school is now eligible for FES-EO and there are no longer statutory program caps, there is no longer a need to have certain groups falling inside and outside of a cap that no longer exists.