Florida PEP Scholarship: The 2026-2027 Guide for Homeschool Families

If someone told you PEP is Florida's homeschool scholarship, they were close. The Personalized Education Program does fund learning at home, and it does put roughly $8,000 per child into an account you control. But under Florida law, a PEP student isn't a home education student, and that difference changes the paperwork you file each year.

It's worth understanding before you spend a dollar. Below is how the program works, what your funds can cover, and where a real art curriculum fits into your child's learning plan.

For a wider look at how these accounts work around the country, see our complete guide to homeschool funding and ESAs.

What Is the Florida PEP Scholarship?

PEP is an education savings account, or ESA, created under the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship. You'll sometimes see it written as FTC-PEP. Instead of your child's education funding going to a public school, the state routes it into an account you manage for approved learning costs.

Step Up For Students administers PEP for most Florida families, though it's one of a few approved nonprofits that do. If you've heard neighbors call this a voucher, or seen the $8,000 figure in a Facebook group, they're talking about this program.

What makes PEP different from Florida's other scholarships is who it's built for. The private school scholarships fund tuition at a specific school. PEP funds parent-directed learning, which means you're the one deciding what your child studies and what you buy to teach it.

Who Qualifies for PEP?

Eligibility is broad. To qualify, your student needs to meet these requirements:

• Be a Florida resident
• Be at least 5 years old by September 1
• Be entering kindergarten through 12th grade
• Not be enrolled full time in a public or private school

There's no income limit, so your household income won't disqualify you. Lower-income families do receive priority consideration when awards are handed out.

One thing to know: the program is capped. Florida law limits PEP to 140,000 students for the 2026-2027 school year, and once that ceiling is reached, no additional students can be funded.

How Much Is the PEP Scholarship, and When Does the Money Arrive?

The award averages roughly $8,000 per student for 2026-2027. The Florida Legislature sets scholarship amounts every year in the state budget, so the figure shifts, and your county and your child's grade level can affect the final number.

Your funds don't arrive all at once. PEP accounts are funded in four equal quarterly deposits across the school year:

Because the money comes in installments, plan your bigger curriculum purchases around your deposit schedule rather than assuming the full balance is available in August.

PEP vs. Traditional Homeschooling in Florida

Home education and PEP are two separate paths in Florida, and you can't be on both at once. If you're currently registered as a home education family and you accept a PEP scholarship, you'll submit a letter to your county superintendent terminating your home education program.

You're still teaching your child at home. Your legal category and your yearly obligations are what change.

Each year as a PEP family, you'll handle three things: submit a Student Learning Plan, have your student take an approved norm-referenced test and turn in the results, and sign a compliance statement.

That Student Learning Plan is worth a closer look, because it's where a lot of families miss an opportunity.

Your Student Learning Plan Is a Buying Plan

The Student Learning Plan is a customized plan you write to guide your child's instruction. It identifies the goods and services your student needs to meet their academic goals.

Subjects you might treat as extras get to be line items in an official plan. If your child needs art instruction and you write it into the learning plan, you've documented the need and connected it to the funding in one step.

Art is usually the first subject to fall off a homeschool schedule. It gets messy, it needs supplies you don't have, and if drawing was never your thing, teaching it feels out of reach. Putting it in the plan on purpose is how it stops being the subject you keep meaning to get to.

What Can You Spend PEP Funds On?

The approved expense categories are broad. Families commonly use PEP funds for:

• Instructional materials and curriculum
• Tutoring and academic services
• Part-time private school or hybrid tuition
• Online and virtual learning providers
• Dual enrollment costs
• Standardized testing fees
• Contracted services through the school district

Not every item a supplier sells is automatically approved, so confirm a product qualifies before you buy. Your scholarship organization publishes current guidelines, and it's worth checking them when you're planning a larger purchase.

You have two ways to spend. You can shop approved suppliers directly through My Scholar Shop, where checkout works much like any other online store, or you can purchase an approved item yourself and submit for reimbursement. Buying through the marketplace is the simpler path, since the approval question is already settled.

Meet Guide Dots: An Art Teacher for Your Living Room

Guide Dots started in a real art classroom. Ms. Cindra, an art teacher with an education degree, ran her own brick-and-mortar art school and kept watching the same thing happen. Kids who loved to draw would give up the moment their picture didn't match what they pictured in their head. She built a method to fix that, and Guide Dots brings it into your home.

The whole thing rests on one technical skill: proportion. When a drawing comes out wonky, proportion is almost always the reason, and it's the reason a frustrated kid decides they're bad at art. The program teaches it through a 3-part system:

• Art teacher-led video lessons. Your child learns REAL art skills straight from Ms. Cindra, step by step and at their own pace.
• An exclusive light tablet. This is the tool behind proportion mastery, so drawings finally come out looking the way your child imagined.
• Intentionally placed dot guides. The dots are scaffolding, and they thin out as your child's skills grow.

The question we hear most: isn't this just tracing? Nope! Your child is learning to see proportion and creating their own work, and it's awesome to watch it click.

There's a reason we push families to start early. Around age 8, most kids decide whether they're "good" or "bad" at art, and that verdict tends to stick for years. Building confidence before that point is worth a spot in your learning plan.

The lessons are self-paced and need little to no adult support, so your child works independently while you get a stretch of quiet time. We call that Mama/Papa peace.

How to Get Guide Dots with Your PEP Funds

Guide Dots is an approved supplier, so your scholarship covers your kit with no out-of-pocket payment. Here's the process:

1. Log into My Scholar Shop through your student account.
2. Look for Guide Dots on the "View Our Suppliers" page.
3. Place your order, and your starter kit arrives within 5 to 7 business days.

Everything comes ready to use. The light tablet and artist-grade supplies arrive together, so there's no separate trip for the right markers or paper.

A Note on AAA Scholarship Foundation

Step Up For Students isn't the only organization administering PEP. AAA Scholarship Foundation is a second scholarship funding organization approved by the state, and some Florida families hold their PEP scholarship through AAA instead.

The program itself works the same either way. The award comes from the same Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, the eligibility requirements are identical, and the yearly obligations don't change. What differs is the portal you log into and the marketplace you shop, so check with your organization about how purchases and reimbursements work on their platform.

Put Your PEP Funds to Work with Art Curriculum from Guide Dots

Your scholarship goes further when it's spent on curriculum your child actually wants to open. Guide Dots gives your young artist REAL skills and the confidence that comes with them, and it gives you an art program that runs without lesson planning on your end.

Shop Guide Dots starter kits and pay with your PEP funds through My Scholar Shop.

No PEP funds yet? No problem. Our starter kits begin at $93 and ship free, with everything your child needs to start creating today.