Florida's homeschool ESA, the Personalized Education Program (PEP), gives eligible families roughly $8,000 a year to put toward tutoring, curriculum, and other approved educational expenses. This guide covers how PEP works for homeschool families, what the funds can be used for, and how to put them toward tutoring with Learner.
Florida's ESA Programs, and Where PEP Fits
Florida's school choice programs are administered by Step Up for Students, a nonprofit scholarship funding organization that manages applications, payments, and compliance for the state. Step Up oversees several funding streams for K-12 students:
- FES-EO — a scholarship paid directly to a private school for tuition
- FES-UA — an education savings account for students with a documented disability
- PEP — an education savings account for homeschool and other non-enrolled students
PEP is the program built specifically for families educating their children outside of a public or private school, which makes it the one most relevant to homeschoolers and the focus of this guide. For a full comparison of all three programs, funding amounts, and eligibility rules, see our complete Florida ESA guide.
If you're new to Florida's scholarship programs, this video provides a quick overview of Step Up for Students and how the application process works.
What PEP Funds Can Cover
PEP covers a broad range of approved expenses, including:
- Online and in-person tutoring
- Curriculum, textbooks, and online courses
- Educational technology and software
- Required annual testing fees
- Educational therapy for learning challenges
- Tuition or fees for a home education program, part-time private school enrollment, or postsecondary courses
Funds cannot be used to pay a parent for homeschooling their own child. Learner's complete Florida ESA guide has a full breakdown of approved and excluded expenses.
Why Homeschool Families Add Tutoring
Homeschooling and tutoring aren't competing approaches for most families. Common reasons homeschool families add tutoring alongside their existing curriculum include:
- Covering a subject the parent isn't equipped to teach — upper-level math, essay writing, or a foreign language are common examples
- Preparing for the required end of year testing, with short-term, focused sessions beforehand
- SAT/ACT preparation for students building a college application
- Closing a specific skill gap in one subject or topic
Since PEP funds are eligible for this purpose, there's every reason to take advantage of tutoring to benefit the student.
Using Learner as a PEP Tutoring Provider
Learner is an approved tutoring provider for Florida's PEP and FES-UA programs. ESA funds go directly toward one-on-one, personalized sessions matched to the student, built around a homeschool schedule rather than a school-day schedule, with progress tracked along the way. Families typically use Learner alongside their existing curriculum rather than as a replacement for it.
Start Tutoring With Learner Using PEP Funds
PEP funds are held in an account called EMA (Education Market Assistant). Families can search for a tutoring provider directly inside the EMA marketplace, but in practice, most families start the process with Learner directly rather than browsing the portal first:
- Start by taking our quick matching quiz. We will ask about the student's subject needs, grade level, and goals.
- Most families who reach out already have PEP funds active in their EMA account. If a family hasn't applied yet, Learner can help confirm whether they may be eligible.
- Get matched with a tutor based on subject and goals.
- Search for Learner as a provider in the EMA portal, select an hourly rate based on your plan, and submit a request for the number of hours needed.
- Lastly, Learner approves the request in EMA. Once funding is connected, sessions are paid directly from the EMA balance. There are no invoices to submit or reimbursements to request.
Families who'd rather start from the EMA side can open the marketplace, go to Find Providers, and select Learner from the list of approved PEP vendors.
Here’s a step-by-step overview of how a parent can find a provider and submit a request for hours in the portal:
How PEP Works for Homeschool Families
PEP is distinct from Florida's home education program under section 1002.41, even though both fall under what people commonly call "homeschooling." A family currently registered as a home education program with their district needs to file a written notice of termination for that program and notify the district that the student is participating in PEP instead.
What changes is where a family registers and reports, not how they teach. PEP students keep the same day-to-day flexibility as home education students, and Florida law provides PEP students with the same flexibility and opportunities as home education students.
The specific obligations that come with PEP are:
- Registering as a PEP student with an approved scholarship funding organization (SFO), such as Step Up For Students, rather than through the school district's home education process
- Submitting a Student Learning Plan to the SFO annually
- Taking an annual standardized test and submitting results to the SFO (students with certain disabilities are exempt; families who choose Florida's statewide assessment as an alternative can only do so for grades 3–10, arranged through the district)
- Keeping records of how funds are spent
The day-to-day teaching stays with the parent. What's different from home education is the registration path and who a family reports to each year.
The 2026-27 Application Window
New applications for the 2026-27 school year closed on April 30, 2026, and the program is currently at capacity for new students, with priority given to families renewing an existing PEP scholarship. Sign up to be notified as soon as the application window opens again.
Step Up for Students has not yet announced dates for the 2027-28 cycle, but past cycles have generally opened in early February. In the meantime:
- Keep identity and residency documents on hand and ready to upload
- Check eligibility for PEP and Florida's other ESA programs now using Learner's free funding finder tool
- If currently registered as a home education program, plan to file a notice of termination with the district once PEP is approved — the two registrations don't run side by side
PEP's Growth
By the 2025-26 school year, PEP's enrollment cap had grown to 100,000 students, up from just 20,000 in its first year. Demand has consistently run high: the program nearly filled its very first enrollment cap, with roughly 19,500 students enrolled in 2023-24.
PEP was created in 2023 under state legislation establishing Florida as the first state to offer an education savings account built specifically for parent-led education. It sits within a broader network of Florida scholarship programs administered by Step Up for Students, which has operated in Florida since 2001, funded its one millionth scholarship in 2020, and across all of its programs served more than 400,000 students for the first time in 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use PEP funds for tutoring and keep my own curriculum? Yes. Most homeschool families do both: their own curriculum for daily instruction, with tutoring layered on for specific subjects or goals.
I already pay a tutor out of pocket. Can I switch to ESA funding? If the current tutor is a registered PEP vendor, yes. If not, families can continue that arrangement while separately starting ESA-funded sessions with an approved provider like Learner for other subjects.
What happens if I don't spend all my PEP funds this year? Funds are awarded for the school year in which they're issued, and unused balances generally don't carry forward indefinitely. Families with an unused balance should plan to use it before the year closes out.
How much of my PEP funds can I use for tutoring?
There isn't a separate tutoring allowance within PEP. Tutoring is one of several approved educational expenses, so families can decide how much of their available PEP funds to put toward tutoring based on their child's needs and other educational expenses.
Can my child use PEP funds for tutoring in multiple subjects?
Yes. Families can use PEP funds for tutoring across multiple subjects, depending on their child's needs and other approved educational expenses. Tutoring can complement the family's existing curriculum rather than replace it.
For deadlines, funding amounts, and the full program comparison, see the complete Florida ESA guide or visit Step Up for Students directly.
