Florida PEP for military families.

• Who counts. The handbook defines an active-duty member as Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, or Coast Guard, including the Reserve components and the National Guard.
• Living in Florida: two residency documents, but not your PCS orders or LES.
• Moving to Florida on PCS orders: you can apply before you arrive, using your PCS orders and LES as proof of residency.
• Applying late: military families have a deadline exception. It doesn’t guarantee funding and doesn’t skip the PEP cap.
• Moving away on orders: renewal PEP students can keep the scholarship if Florida stays their legal residence and a PCS Order Verification Request is approved.

The handbook says a PEP student must “Be a Florida resident OR qualify under one of the military exceptions.” It lists two:

• A first-time applicant who is a dependent of an active-duty U.S. military member stationed outside Florida but with Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders to Florida.
• A renewing applicant who is a dependent of an active-duty U.S. military member relocated outside Florida who keeps Florida as their home of record.

Step Up’s FAQ adds a limit: a parent or guardian with a legal domicile in Florida but currently on orders to another state “is not eligible to apply for the scholarship for the first time.” It says past ties to Florida, such as having lived here or holding an old Florida ID, are not enough. The other eligibility rules (age, grade, one scholarship at a time) apply to everyone; see what each PEP application status means for what happens after you apply.

The Military Families page says all residency documents must be current (bills or statements dated within the past two months), show the full name of the parent or guardian, and match the physical address on the application.

Moving into Florida. The handbook says the LES must be dated within two months of when the application was submitted, and the physical address in your guardian profile should match the newly assigned Florida unit address on the PCS orders. Step Up’s FAQ says you can apply “with your newly assigned base address or new Florida residential address (if you have one).” After you establish residency, the handbook says to update both addresses in the guardian profile and submit new Florida Proof of Residency documents.

The profile question. If your student lives in Florida while the active-duty parent is stationed elsewhere, Step Up’s FAQ says to answer based on where the student lives: select “Stationed in Florida” if the student lives in Florida, and “Outside of Florida” only if the student lives out of state with the military parent.

The regular 2026–27 PEP application period was February 1 to April 30, 2026. The handbook says dependent children of active-duty members “are exempt from the scholarship application deadline and can apply for a scholarship at any time,” with the service member’s LES for the month the application was submitted as proof of active-duty status.

For 2026–27, the handbook lists these limits for families applying after the April 30 deadline:

Step Up’s FAQ summarizes this more briefly: some PEP students “may apply until April 15, 2027, with all follow‑up requirements due by May 15, 2027. Funding is not guaranteed.” What the Student Learning Plan involves is covered in PEP testing and the Student Learning Plan.

Do you need to call to open an application? The pages disagree. The handbook says families with a deadline exception applying outside the application season “will need to call Step Up For Students at (877) 735-7837 to have an application opened.” Step Up’s FAQ says military and foster families “do not need to call Step Up to have an application opened” and can open their own application past the deadline. If EMA won’t let you start one, call Step Up.

Limits on the exception.

• It doesn’t skip the cap. The FAQ says “exceptions from the application deadline do not exclude students from the PEP scholarship program capacity,” and the handbook says the application may go into Pending Review. See is the PEP scholarship full?
• It’s for first-time applications. The handbook says students who already applied for one program during the year can’t use the exception to re-accept that program or switch programs later in the year.

Moving or living outside Florida is normally on the handbook’s list of actions that may lead to loss of the scholarship. The handbook makes an exception for “renewal FTC-PEP Scholarship students of active-duty members of the United States Armed Forces with Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders to move out of Florida.”

To keep PEP as a renewal student, the handbook says to upload an LES dated within two months of the application showing Florida is your legal residence, upload the PCS orders, and complete a PCS Order Verification Request in EMA.

Newly confirmed students who move mid-year. The handbook and the Military Families page describe the move-out option for renewing families. Step Up’s FAQ also answers a different case: if a military family moves out of state mid-year after the student is newly confirmed, PEP and FES-UA students “can continue to receive funding for the remainder of the school year if your PCS Verification Request is approved.” If that’s your situation, confirm with Step Up before you move. For the full list of ways a scholarship can end, see can you lose the PEP scholarship?

Once the PCS Order Verification Request is approved, the handbook says you can list your out-of-state address as a Military Address, which lets you be reimbursed for items shipped there. Other handbook rules for approved military families living out of state:

• Shipping. Approved military families living out of state “may be reimbursed for authorized purchases shipped out of state.” MyScholarShop orders still may not be shipped outside Florida.
• Activities and field trips. Approved military families living outside Florida don’t need pre-authorization for out-of-state activities and field trips, and can submit reimbursement requests directly with the required documentation.
• Private schools. Funds can’t pay tuition and fees at private schools outside Florida; only Florida private schools participate.
• Providers. Services must be delivered in Florida, except credentialed providers who can work virtually, such as tutors.

How a reimbursement request works is covered in the Step Up reimbursement guide.