The Florida Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) is a school choice program that helps families pay for private school or homeschooling. It has options for all K-12 students and those with disabilities.
As of 2024, 12 states have enacted universal or near-universal Education Savings Account (ESA) programs, with Arizona's program alone serving over 75,000 students — making state-funded homeschooling more accessible than ever (EdChoice, 2024). Research from the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) shows that homeschooled students typically score 15 to 25 percentile points higher than public school students on standardized academic achievement tests.
What is the Florida family empowerment scholarship?
The Florida Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) is Florida's main school choice program. It's managed mainly by Step Up For Students. There are two main types: FES for Educational Options (FES-EO) for private school choices for all K-12 students, and FES for Unique Abilities (FES-UA) for students aged 3-22 with qualifying disabilities. If you're homeschooling, Florida offers the Personalized Education Program (PEP). This works like FES-EO but is for students not enrolled full-time in public or private schools.
Eligibility requirements
To qualify for FES-EO and PEP, you just need to be a Florida resident who can enroll in K-12 public school. There are no income limits now, but families earning up to 185% of the Federal Poverty Level get priority. Students must be at least 5 years old by September 1 of the school year. For PEP, students can't be full-time in public or private school and must notify the district that they're ending their traditional home education program. FES-UA requires a documented disability like autism or specific learning disabilities.
What expenses are covered
FES education savings accounts cover various educational needs. Core expenses include private school tuition, curriculum (both physical and digital), instructional materials, and online learning programs. Supplemental learning can also cover private tutoring, community college courses, AP exam fees, and industry certifications. You can even contribute to Florida Prepaid College or College Savings Programs. For FES-UA students, extra expenses like therapy services and assistive technology are also covered. All purchase requests are checked by the scholarship funding organization to confirm eligibility.
The bottom line
The Florida Family Empowerment Scholarship program offers great financial help for families looking for alternatives to public schools. Most students get about $8,000 a year, and those with disabilities receive even more. This funding can really help with private school tuition or cover significant costs for homeschooling through PEP. With no income restrictions, it's available to all Florida families. Mark February 1, 2026, on your calendar to apply. Remember, applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis, with an April 30 deadline.
