Florida’s scholarship program for K-12 students who don’t attend school full-time has turned on the “no vacancy” sign.
The Personalized Education Program operates as an education savings account that allocates an average of $8,000 per student for approved education-related expenses. It has reached its statutory capacity of 60,000 students for the school year.
Step Up For Students, which manages the bulk of the scholarships, said parents may continue to apply this year. Staff will review capacity regularly to see if more scholarships become available.
Since the state began offering PEP in 2023, demand immediately took off and has continued to skyrocket. Last year, the program was capped at 20,000 students. This year, the law allowed the cap to grow by 40,000 to a total of 60,000 students. Next year, the program can grow another 40,000, bringing the total to 100,000.
The program’s growth has supercharged education entrepreneurs who start a la carte programs that can operate independently or in partnership with traditional schools.
“People are seeing what’s possible with customized education solutions, and it seems that this approach is really popular,” said Eric Wearne, an associate professor in the Education Economics Center at Kennesaw State University and director of the National Hybrid Schools Project. He added that for years, parents have been interested in schedule flexibility, and “these new programs are making that kind of schedule more accessible.”
A good example is Baker County Christian Co-op. Tucked away in the tiny Northeast Florida town of Glen St. Mary, the hybrid homeschool started in a house with a handful of families in 2017. It has since expanded to three buildings that serve 250 students, with 300 more on a waitlist.
Katie Wilford, one of three co-founders and a former public school educator, credits PEP with the rapid enrollment growth.
“I used to get an email once a day,” Wilford said. “Now, I get five or six emails a day. It has blown up.” She said 95% of the students at Baker County Christian Co-op receive PEP, while about 4% receive the state scholarship for students with unique abilities. Both programs operate as education savings accounts.
Jessie and John Pedraza, parents from Naples, Florida, began homeschooling their two daughters, Annaliyah and Gianna, since the COVID-19 pandemic first closed schools but continued full time. Jessie has used PEP for field trips and memberships to STEM programs near their home as well as physical education. Annaliyah, who is in fifth grade, is in martial arts. Gianna joined a gym with a program for kids ages 7-11.
“PEP has allowed us to level up our homeschool experience,” she said. “It gives us the opportunity to really create an A-plus homeschool experience versus an A or B-plus.”
