PEP and FES-UA Scholarship Renewal: Florida's Process and Deadlines

Your child had a successful year on PEP or FES-UA, and now the renewal window is opening. Missing it can move your application to space-available processing alongside new applicants, risking funding continuity.

The Renewal Window

The statutory renewal period opens February 1 and closes April 30 each year for the following school year. This is the same window used for initial priority applications, but renewing students receive Tier 2 priority — processed after low-income Tier 1 families but before all other new applicants.

Here's what the renewal timeline looks like:

If you miss the April 30 deadline, your renewal may be processed alongside new applicants on a space-available basis. Capacity varies by SFO and program year, so check with your SFO rather than assuming a late application will be funded.

What the Renewal Requires

The renewal process is lighter than the initial application, but it's not automatic. You need to:

For PEP:

• Submit a new annual Student Learning Plan for the upcoming school year
• Confirm your child's enrollment status (not enrolled in public school)
• Upload norm-referenced test results from the current school year — failure to submit test scores blocks renewal

For FES-UA:

• Follow the SFO portal's instructions if it requests updated eligibility or diagnosis records
• Submit annual assessment results (or a physician's documentation that standardized testing is inappropriate due to the severity of the student's disability)
• Verify continued Florida residency

The SFO portal walks you through each required step. Incomplete submissions are flagged, and you'll receive email notifications about missing items. But waiting for those reminders to arrive puts you dangerously close to the deadline.

Account Rollover Caps

Unspent scholarship funds don't vanish at the end of the fiscal year (June 30). Balances roll over automatically into the next year, provided two conditions are met:

Balance limits:

• PEP: Maximum account balance of $24,000
• FES-UA: Maximum account balance of $50,000

If your account reaches the cap, the SFO pauses state fund transfers until your spending reduces the balance below the statutory limit. Your account remains active — you can still spend — but no new quarterly deposits arrive until you're back under the threshold.

Activity requirement: Accounts showing zero spending for 12 consecutive months (a full fiscal year, July 1 to June 30) are closed. Remaining funds revert to the state FEFP account. Even a single small purchase during the year keeps the account active.

For a family receiving $8,000 annually on PEP, the $24,000 cap allows roughly three years of unspent accumulation before deposits pause. In practice, most families spend the majority of their award each year, so the cap primarily affects families who join mid-year and receive prorated funding while the prior year's balance is still intact.

When Scholarships End

A student's scholarship account closes — and any remaining balance reverts to the state — when any of these occur:

• High school graduation
• Reaching age 22
• Full-time enrollment in a public or charter school
• Moving out of Florida

If a family re-enrolls a child in public school temporarily and then wants to return to PEP or FES-UA, they must submit a new application and go through the standard process again. The prior account balance is not recoverable once it reverts.

Switching Between SFOs at Renewal

Families could select either SFO for 2025–26 or 2026–27 when capacity was available. Before changing SFOs at renewal, contact both organizations to confirm the current application process and how any remaining balance will be handled; do not assume an account balance transfers automatically.

Our Florida FES-UA & PEP Scholarship Parent Guide includes the full renewal checklist, rollover planning strategies, and a timeline calendar with every deadline marked — so you never risk losing your spot by missing a date.

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