Basic Program Facts about the Family Empowerment Scholarship (formerly the Gardiner Scholarship)
The Family Empowerment Scholarship (formerly the Gardiner Scholarship) is a unique program for children with special needs. The scholarship allows parents to personalize the education of their children by directing money toward a combination of programs and approved providers. Florida became the second state in the nation, after Arizona, to create an education savings account program for children with special needs in 2014.
In the inaugural 2014-15 school year, the Gardiner Scholarship (then known as the Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts), served 1,491 students.
In 2016, the Florida legislature renamed the program in honor of Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner and his family. Gardiner and his wife Camille have championed the cause of children with unique abilities for many years. The Gardiners have two daughters and a son, Andrew, who has Down syndrome.
In 2021, the legislature voted to merge the Gardiner Scholarship with the Family Empowerment Scholarship. Beginning July 1, 2021 the following diagnoses become eligible for the scholarship: speech impairment, language impairment, hearing impairment, orthopedic impairment, emotional or behavior disability and specific learning disability.
Learn more about the Gardiner Scholarship program below or download the 2021-22 Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities Fact Sheet here.
The Florida legislature appropriated $189.9 million for the Gardiner Scholarship in 2020-21 and Step Up served 17,339 students on scholarship in with an average scholarship worth $10,317 that year.
For 2021-22, the Gardiner Scholarship was merged with the Family Empowerment Scholarship, becoming the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA). This year, more than 23,000 students were awarded scholarships averaging around $10,000. Scholarships are available on a rolling basis and are prorated quarterly. The program is now funded through the Florida Education Finance Plan (FEFP).
For 2021-22:
- 56.2% Autism Spectrum
- 9.4% Rare Diseases
- 5.9% Anaphylaxis
- 5.7% Intellectual Disability
- 4.9% Multiple-Diagnoses
- 3.8% High-Risk
- 2.7% Other Health Impairment
- 2.1% Specific Learning Disability
- 2% Cerebral Palsy
- 1.8% Down Syndrome
- 5.5% All other diagnoses
Student eligibility: This scholarship is for Florida students 3-years old through 12th grade, or up to age 22, with one of the following disabilities: anaphylaxis, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, deaf or hearing impaired, Down syndrome, dual sensory impaired, emotional or behavior disability, intellectual disability (severe cognitive impairment), language impaired, muscular dystrophy, orthopedic impaired, Phelan-McDermid syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, rare disease as defined by the National Organization for Rare Disorders, speech impairment, specific learning disability, Spina bifida, traumatic brain injury or Williams syndrome. Also, students aged 3 to 5 deemed “high risk” because of developmental delays may be eligible.
Students can continue to receive scholarship funding until they graduate from high school, reach age 22 or return to public school. Unspent money in the account rolls over from year to year and is refunded to the state if the student has not enrolled in any eligible post secondary institution for three consecutive years following high school graduation.
Scholarship account value: The scholarship amount varies according to grade and county but averages about $10,000 per student. The scholarship is higher for students whose disability is rated above a level 3 (known as Matrix 253). The parent may request an evaluation from the school district to determine whether the student qualifies.
The Gardiner scholarship allows parents to truly customize the education for their children. In a busy week Step Up will process more than 1,000 unique reimbursement requests totaling more than $1 million.
Eligible expenses: The Gardiner Scholarship can be used to pay for tuition and fees at an eligible private school, applied behavior analysis services, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapy, physical therapy, services from listening and spoken language specialists, private tutoring from a certified teacher, virtual programs or online courses, exam fees, contract services from school districts, contributions to the state prepaid college program, instructional materials such as digital devices and assistive technology, and curriculum materials. Preapproved expenses can be viewed here.
Reimbursements and provider payments: Parents may seek reimbursement for approved expenses by submitting receipts online with a description of the educational purpose of the purchase. Participating service providers, such as therapists, tutors and schools, may also invoice parents and be paid directly from the account. Parents may review the scholarship handbook here.
The bill creating the Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts (now called the Gardiner Scholarship ) passed largely along party lines and was signed into law in June, 2014. Before the first scholarships were awarded the Florida Education Association filed suit against the state to end the fledgling program. Lawyers for the teacher union called the special needs students a “collateral casualty” of the lawsuit. The lawsuit was dismissed in December, 2014.
Over the next two years an outpouring of support from parents helped the public understand the impact of scholarships for children with unique abilities.
The legislature has shown continuous bipartisan support for the program by helping the program grow with demand. Democrats and Republicans alike in the Florida legislature have repeatedly voted to increase funding for the program. The legislature increased funding in 2016 to $71 million, 2017 to $105 million, 2018 to $126 million, 2019 to $147.9 million and again in 2020 to $189.9 million to meet growing demand from Florida parents.