What happens to PEP money you don’t spend.

• Unspent PEP money rolls over from one school year to the next, as long as your student stays eligible.
• There’s a ceiling: no new deposits that would take the balance over $24,000.
• Don’t let the account sit idle. Two fiscal years in a row with no spending, and the account is closed.
• PEP money doesn’t move to AAA or any other scholarship funding organization.

Step Up’s 2026–27 PEP Family Handbook puts it plainly: “Unspent scholarship funds may be rolled over from one school year to the next.” It adds that these funds “remain accessible and can be used for eligible expenses in future years, as long as the student continues to meet eligibility requirements.”

So rollover doesn’t change what the money can buy. Rolled-over funds follow the same eligible-expense rules as new deposits; see what PEP covers.

Rollover also isn’t the same as the yearly spending window. Step Up’s FAQ says families may spend 2026–27 funds between July 1, 2026, and June 30, 2027, and that reimbursement requests must be submitted by July 31, 2027. Those dates are about when a purchase counts for the year. Money that stays in the account after June 30 is what carries forward. For getting purchases repaid, see the Step Up reimbursement guide.

Rollover has a limit. The handbook says Florida law “prohibits depositing additional funds into a student’s FTC-PEP Scholarship account if it raises the account balance greater than $24,000.” The statute says a scholarship funding organization “may not transfer any funds to an account of a student determined eligible under this section which has a balance in excess of $24,000.”

Step Up’s FAQ lists the PEP limit as a balance of $24,000 or less by each quarter’s deadline, and warns that not meeting it “may result in scholarship funds being returned.”

The sources describe this as a limit on new deposits. None of them says money already in the account is taken away for being over the limit. If your balance is getting close, the quarterly payment schedule in PEP payment dates shows when the next deposit would come, and Step Up can tell you how it applies to your student.

Step Up also adds interest to each student’s balance four times a year. The handbook says that interest is “reserved for that student’s benefit and added to their account balance.”

The handbook lists two situations in which “a student’s scholarship account will be closed and any remaining funds returned to the state”:

• The Florida Commissioner of Education deems the student ineligible due to fraud or abuse.
• “Two consecutive fiscal years (July 1 – June 30) pass with no spending activity from the student’s account.”

Step Up’s FAQ says the same about inactivity: “If no spending occurs for two consecutive fiscal years, the account will be closed and remaining funds returned.”

The sources word where the money goes differently. The handbook says remaining funds are “returned to the state.” Section 1002.395 says the account “must be closed and any remaining funds must revert to the organization” after two consecutive fiscal years of inactivity (among other reasons). We’re reporting both as written; for your student, Step Up is the one to ask.

Neither page defines exactly what counts as “spending activity,” so if your family is taking a break from using the account, ask Step Up before the second fiscal year ends.

Becoming ineligible stops new money; it isn’t the same as an account closing. The handbook says “No additional funds will be deposited into a student’s scholarship account if the student becomes ineligible,” and lists:

• The student is found to be enrolled in a public school.
• The student graduates from high school.
• The student turns 21 years old on or before September 1 of the upcoming school year.

Florida law says a scholarship remains in force until, among other things, the student “graduates from high school or attains 21 years of age, whichever occurs first.” It also says “Reimbursements for program expenditures may continue until the account balance is expended or the scholarship account is closed.”

Neither source spells out a timeline for spending a balance left after graduation. If your student is in their last year, ask Step Up what applies before you plan purchases.

Switching to another Step Up scholarship. The handbook says that if a student transfers to another scholarship program, “any unused funds from their previous scholarship account will remain accessible and may continue to be spent on eligible expenses until the balance is exhausted.” Those funds must be used under the rules of the program the student left. Switching has its own deadlines this year; see what’s new for PEP in 2026–27.

Moving to AAA or another SFO. The money stays behind. The handbook says “FTC-PEP funds cannot be transferred to other SFOs,” and Step Up’s FAQ says “Florida Tax Credit funding, including PEP funding, does not transfer between Scholarship Funding Organizations.”

The handbook also says Step Up will recover excess funds deposited by mistake, and may recover excess funds from a previous program after a mid-year switch. If a deposit looks larger than expected, it’s safest not to spend it until Step Up confirms.