Can Florida's PEP scholarship pay for basketball training? Yes — here are the official categories.
Florida's Personalized Education Program (PEP) is an education savings account for families educating outside full-time public or private school — created inside the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program by House Bill 1 in 2023 (s. 1002.395, F.S.). The state deposits scholarship money into an account you direct, and physical education is an official spending category. For a basketball family, that changes the math on training.
What it's worth
For 2026–27, the official award table runs from $7,463 to $12,217 per student depending on county and grade band — most counties land around $7,600–$8,900. Amounts are reset annually by the Legislature. Funds arrive quarterly (roughly Aug/Sep 1, Nov 1, Feb 1, Apr 1), unspent money rolls over, and our sister guide EMAaccount.com covers the three ways to actually spend it.
What the P.E. category explicitly covers
From Step Up For Students' official PEP Purchasing Guide, Physical Education category:
- "Sports lessons, including individual training or group training" — private basketball coaching and group academy sessions sit squarely here.
- "Team fees, including registration, equipment rental, and competition fees" — league registration, tournament entries.
- Sports equipment — including a basketball hoop (once every two years), plus uniforms and athletic footwear.
- Structured summer day camps — eligible when they provide structured instruction and the instructors meet credential rules (a Florida educator's certificate, 3+ years of subject experience, a relevant degree, or a recognized certification).
What doesn't qualify: traditional overnight recreational camps, and out-of-state activities need pre-authorization. Keep every invoice — date of service, provider, rate, payment method.
The fine print that trips families up
- PEP replaces district homeschooling on paper. PEP students must end any district home-education registration (deadline: Aug 15) — no notice of intent, no district portfolio. Instead: a Student Learning Plan filed annually in the EMA portal, and a nationally norm-referenced test (or statewide assessment) every year before renewal.
- Eligibility: Florida residents, K–12, not enrolled full-time in public or private school. No income cap — lower-income families are processed first.
- Timing is everything. Applications have opened around February 1 with a hard April 30 deadline, and the program can fill its cap (140,000 students for 2026–27 — and it did). The 2026–27 window is closed; the next is expected around February 1, 2027. Check the official PEP page for the confirmed date.
- Two administrators: Step Up For Students (EMA portal: MyScholarShop, direct-pay providers, or reimbursement) and AAA Scholarship Foundation (primarily reimbursement-based).
For trainers and academies
To be paid directly from family scholarship accounts (instead of families paying and getting reimbursed), a training business registers in EMA as a Direct Pay Service Provider and submits a service catalog — it then appears under "Find Providers" in the EMA Marketplace. Worth doing if homeschool families are a real part of your clientele.
It's free to apply — don't get hustled
Nobody legitimate charges an application fee or asks for your account password. Our sister guide has a scam checker.
Is your family even eligible? Our sister site walks the whole application step by step — and compares PEP with the other Florida scholarships.
FTC vs PEP: which fits your family →