Can Step Up Scholarships Pay for Testing and Assessment Fees?
Fees for standardized tests, AP exams, and career or placement assessments.
The Short Answer
Testing is an eligible expense under both big accounts, and the Private School Scholarship covers standardized testing fees with money left after tuition and fees. FES-UA covers standardized testing and academic fees, and PEP covers testing and assessment fees, including standardized tests, AP exams, and career and placement assessments.
FES-UA needs a qualifying diagnosis or an IEP and cannot be used during full-time public school enrollment. PEP is for parent-directed education.
What counts as a qualifying diagnosis?
Step Up publishes the list of qualifying conditions for FES-UA. The list is:
- Anaphylaxis
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Cerebral Palsy
- Down Syndrome
- Emotional or Behavioral Disability
- Hearing Impairment, including deafness
- High-Risk Child
- Hospital or Homebound
- Dual Sensory Impaired
- Intellectual Disability (severe cognitive impairment)
- Language Impairment
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Orthopedic Impairment
- Other Health Impairment
- Phelan-McDermid Syndrome
- Prader-Willi Syndrome
- Rare Diseases (defined by NORD)
- Specific Learning Disability
- Speech Impairment
- Spina Bifida
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Visual Impairment, including blindness
- Williams Syndrome
ADHD can qualify for the Unique Abilities Scholarship (FES-UA) as an other health impairment, when the diagnosis is documented.
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability, one of the diagnoses the Unique Abilities Scholarship (FES-UA) covers.
The diagnosis must be documented by a licensed physician (Florida or another U.S. state or territory), a Florida-licensed psychologist, or a Florida-licensed Autonomous Advanced Practice Registered Nurse. A district IEP written within the past three years can be used instead of a diagnosis document. An evaluation or a 504 plan on its own is not one of those documents.
Step Up confirms how a specific diagnosis fits the program when you apply.
Which Programs Can Pay, and the Rules
FES-UA covers standardized testing and academic fees.
Paying: Direct Pay in EMA, or pay the provider and request reimbursement.
The rule that decides it: Needs a qualifying diagnosis or an IEP, and it cannot be used while your child is enrolled full time in a public school.
PEP covers standardized tests, AP exams, and career and placement assessments.
Paying: Direct Pay in EMA, or pay the provider and request reimbursement.
The rule that decides it: For parent-directed education. Your child cannot be enrolled full time in a public or private school, and a district home education registration must be ended by August 15.
Under the Private School Scholarship (FTC and FES-EO), standardized testing fees are an eligible use of money left after the student's tuition and fees are paid, while the student attends an eligible private school full time in person.
Paying: Funds are paid to the school in quarterly payments, and a parent approves each payment in EMA. Money left after tuition and fees can also be spent through Direct Pay, reimbursement, or MyScholarShop.
The rule that decides it: Pays tuition and fees at the eligible private school your child attends full time. It cannot be used while your child is enrolled full time in a public school.
The service also has to appear in the provider's approved EMA service catalog, and Step Up confirms coverage for your child's program. When in doubt, ask Step Up before the service begins, at (877) 735-7837.
Who Provides It, and How to Find One
Who provides it: A testing organization or assessment provider. The provider must be approved in Step Up's system for the service to be payable.
Approved providers are listed in Step Up's official directory inside EMA. Log in to your EMA account, choose Marketplace, then Find Providers to search approved providers and services near you. Step Up's steps for finding a provider in EMA.
Questions Parents Ask
Who provides Testing and Assessment Fees?
A testing organization or assessment provider. Providers must be approved in Step Up's system. Approved providers are listed in Step Up's official directory inside EMA. Log in to your EMA account, choose Marketplace, then Find Providers to search approved providers and services near you.
What rules decide whether scholarship funds can pay for Testing and Assessment Fees?
Unique Abilities (FES-UA): Needs a qualifying diagnosis or an IEP, and it cannot be used while your child is enrolled full time in a public school. Personalized Education Program (PEP): For parent-directed education. Your child cannot be enrolled full time in a public or private school, and a district home education registration must be ended by August 15. Private School Scholarship: Pays tuition and fees at the eligible private school your child attends full time. It cannot be used while your child is enrolled full time in a public school.
More Services Parents Ask About
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Not Sure Which Programs Fit Your Family?
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Ready to Take the Next Step?
Applications are made with Step Up For Students, not with this site.
Step Up Customer Engagement Center: (877) 735-7837, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.
This tool gives general information only. It is not an application, and it cannot tell you whether your child is eligible. Step Up For Students makes all eligibility and funding decisions.