What is PEP, and how much does it pay a Palm Beach County homeschool or hybrid family?
The Personalized Education Program (PEP, Florida's homeschool education savings account) pays a Palm Beach County student the same county amounts as the Private School Scholarship: $8,890 in K-3, $8,288 in grades 4-8 and $8,091 in grades 9-12 for 2026-27. Step Up For Students loads an account that the parent spends.
Parents buy through MyScholarShop, pay approved providers directly through the EMA platform, or pay first and request reimbursement. A PEP student cannot also be enrolled full time in a public school, a private school or a registered home education program.
How many Palm Beach County students use PEP?
Step Up's 2025-26 PEP fact sheet counts 3,928 funded PEP students in Palm Beach County, the second-highest of any Florida county, with only one county ahead of it, out of 78,617 funded PEP students statewide.
16 private schools in the Palm Beach directory carry the state's PEP participant flag, which means a family can pay part-week tuition from a PEP account. They are tagged on their school pages.
What does a PEP family have to do each year?
Each year a PEP family writes a Student Learning Plan and has the child sit a state-approved norm-referenced test, with scores reported to the scholarship funding organization before the account renews. Students with special needs may be exempt from the testing requirement.
The student must be five by September 1.
When can a Palm Beach family apply for PEP?
PEP applications for 2026-27 opened February 1, 2026 and closed April 30, 2026, though Step Up allowed some Private School and PEP students to apply until April 15, 2027 without guaranteeing funding. Treat the 2027-28 season as expected to open February 1, 2027, and confirm the dates with Step Up.
Accepting the award in EMA is a separate step with its own deadline, so an application alone does not start funding.
Can PEP pay for a laptop or tablet?
No: for 2026-27, Step Up's PEP family handbook says PEP funds cannot be used for digital devices or peripherals such as laptops, computers, tablets and printers. Streaming and software subscriptions remain eligible under Educational Software and Subscriptions.
A family that needs a funded device for a child with a diagnosis should look at FES-UA, where assistive technology and some digital peripherals are allowed under the purchasing guide.
What is PEP, and what is it not?
The short version: an education savings account the parent spends on approved items, and not a payment that goes to one school.
| PEP is | PEP is not |
|---|---|
| An education savings account the parent spends on approved items | A payment that goes to one school |
| Open to students not enrolled full time in a school or registered home education program | A supplement for a child who is a full-time private school student |
| A route to pay part-week or hybrid tuition at a participating school | Funding for full-time virtual school enrollment |
| Funded at the county's Private School Scholarship amounts | Funded at the larger FES-UA amounts |
| Governed by a purchasing guide and a Student Learning Plan | Cash that can be spent without documentation |