New Worlds Scholarship Accounts: What Florida Parents Need to Know

New Worlds Scholarship Accounts at a Glance

Status: No new scholarships funded for 2025-2026. Existing balances can still be spent

Who it served: Public school and VPK students, VPK through grade 5, behind in reading or math

Spending rule: Direct Pay only. Reimbursements are never allowed with these funds

Closure: The account closes after one fiscal year with no spending

The Status for 2025-2026, Stated Plainly

In the 2025 legislative session, Florida's Legislature did not allocate further funding to New Worlds Scholarship Accounts in the 2025-2026 state budget. Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, no new scholarships are awarded or funded.

That is a funding decision for this year, not a judgment about any child, and it does not erase existing accounts. Students who have funds remaining from a previous school year may keep spending those funds until they are gone. Step Up is the only organization that administers this program.

Who New Worlds Was Built For

The program serves students enrolled in a Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) program or in kindergarten through grade 5 in a Florida public school, who meet one of these reading or math need tests: a substantial deficiency in reading or mathematics (for VPK, in early literacy or early mathematics on the most recent progress monitoring); characteristics of dyslexia or dyscalculia; or a score below Level 3 on the most recent statewide standardized reading or math assessment.

Need is shown through school screening, progress monitoring, and state test results, not through a family's application paperwork. Students learning English in an English Language Learner (ELL) program received funding priority. Public school enrollment is this program's setting; it is the one scholarship in this section designed for children who stay in public school.

The Award Amount, in Its Funded-Year Frame

Students awarded an account in the most recent funded year, 2024-2025, received $1,200. The 2025-2026 handbook publishes no award amount, because no new awards are being funded, and Step Up describes the amount as varying by the school year of the award.

If Your Family Already Has an Account

Keep spending the balance with approved providers through the EMA Marketplace and MyScholarShop until it is gone. Every purchase must be made with Direct Pay. Reimbursements for out-of-pocket purchases are not permitted with New Worlds funds, ever, so do not pay first and expect the account to repay you. A purchase that costs more than the balance is the family's responsibility for the difference.

Eligible uses center on reading and math: instructional materials, curriculum, tuition and fees for part-time tutoring, fees for summer education programs, and fees for after-school education programs.

When an Account Closes

If no money is spent for one full fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), the account closes and all remaining funds return to the Florida Department of Education. Tell Step Up if your student is leaving the Florida public school system or joining another scholarship program, because leaving the public system can affect the account. Families can also close an account voluntarily by contacting Step Up.

Questions Parents Ask

Not Sure Which Programs Fit Your Family?

Answer a few questions about where your child goes to school and what your child needs, and see which Step Up programs may fit. It takes about two minutes, and nothing you answer is saved or sent anywhere.

Check Your Child's Options