Personalized Education Program
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Why would anyone refuse the free money that comes with the PEP?
Free is good; isn’t it? Why would anyone turn down free money? Why wouldn’t all homeschooling families take the money? There are legitimate concerns of homeschooling families regarding the requirement of high stakes testing, changes in future requirements especially as test results are analyzed starting in 2027, concerns about future loss of freedom as government money typically comes with government strings, and more. Read here for more details: If using the PEP or the Unique Abilities scholarships, public school programs are available for a fee. This means that FLVS Flex and other online virtual public school classes must be paid for. As of July 2025, FLVS Flex charges $375 per segment (aka semester) per subject for those using scholarships. These same classes are free if not using a scholarship. FL Homeschool Evaluations
offers choice navigation services (i.e., consultations) to help PEP families
Our portfolio review evaluations do NOT meet the requirements for PEP annual testing.
Some PEP families choose to do portfolio review evaluations for their own records and pay for them via the choice navigation option in EMA. 
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The Personalized Education Program (or PEP) became a new homeschooling option in Florida in July 2023. The PEP is for Florida residents who have been granted funding under the Florida Tax Credit scholarship and are not enrolled in a fulltime Florida public or private school nor in home education.
The PEP requires end-of-the-school-year testing. It requires paperwork for students to be sent to a Scholarship Funding Organization instead of a school district, once the PEP is in effect. It is a new homeschooling option with different requirements and reporting options than home education. NOTE: Students with special needs should instead sign up for the Unique Abilities Scholarship and would instead use the Home Education Program option for homeschooling. Like the Home Education Program option that’s been in Florida law since the 1980s, the PEP allows parents to choose the methods and materials to use with their children. The parent directs the education and can decide the subjects to cover and the standards to use. Thousands of dollars per student come with the scholarship to be used to purchase curriculum, books, other learning materials, part-time tutoring, classes, and more. The PEP requires an application for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship which includes completing a simple online form called a Student Learning Plan. In exchange, money is deposited into an account administered by a Scholarship Funding Organization in multiple installments throughout the year. (Step Up for the Students administers most of these scholarships but AAA Scholarships administers a few.) Funding is deposited four times a year (though a bill proposed changing that number.) In the 2023-2024 school year, Florida law allowed for 20,000 of these PEP programs (or slightly more since certain families such as those of law enforcement or foster children were allowed to apply even after the cap was reached.) In 2024-2025, the law allows for 60,000+ PEP programs and 100,000 are slated for the 2025-2026 school year, with an intention of eventually allowing as many PEP programs as desired. Students who were homeschooling under home education law have to be withdrawn from home education in order to start the PEP as these are two distinct categories in Florida law. Students who were in full-time school programs (public or private, including umbrella schools) must be withdrawn from those programs to start the PEP. Applications for the 2025-2026 school year closed at the end of April 2025. (Exceptions are made for those who've moved to Florida under military orders and for foster children.) Students do not have to be homeschooled currently to apply. Students , but must withdraw from that program at the end of this school year if they wish to accept the PEP for next school year. Since the PEP gives thousands of dollars for homeschooling and tens of thousands of people have snapped up the money, why are some homeschooling families not taking the money? What issues do they think exist? Read here for answers. Scholarship Funding Organizations
Step Up for Students processes the majority of the PEP applications. AAA Scholarships also processes some. Sign up for notifications for when they open applications for the next school year. Note that applications cannot be made with both organizations at the same time. Shared by a parent: If you're withdrawing your kids from public school for the FTC PEP scholarship, you will need to: Provide proof of the scholarship to your child’s school and inform them that you will be unenrolling and proceeding with the PEP program. A screenshot of your Step Up dashboard showing your child’s name and Scholarship ID works. You may also have an email with this info. DO NOT USE THE NOTICE OF INTENT TO HOMESCHOOL FORM. Ask the school to enter the correct withdrawal code: WPP (Withdraw from FL Public Schools for PEP) This is essential for Step Up for Students to verify that your child is unenrolled over the summer properly. This is a statewide code. If the wrong code is used or if there's no documentation, it could delay or disrupt your funding. Double-check to avoid issues! |
