The program is funded through private corporate donations. The program is intended to offer low-income students scholarships to attend private schools through school choice. The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) program was initiated by former Florida governor Jeb Bush in 2001 and began offering scholarships in 2002. As a "Scholarship Funding Organization" in Florida, Step Up must undergo audits and must be approved by the State Board of Education annually. Step Up manages five scholarship programs, awarding approximately 99 percent of the scholarships in the state. Step Up For Students is one of two nonprofits administering school choice scholarship programs in Florida.
Step Up awarded scholarships to more than 150,000 students in 2020-21 through five scholarship programs and has awarded more than one million scholarships in total. Step Up raised $618 million in 2019, making it the 21st largest nonprofit corporation in the U.S. The scholarship was capped at $50 million for the 2002-03 school year and scholarships were awarded to 15,585 students. That scholarship program allows donors to receive dollar for dollar tax credits for contributions to nonprofits offering scholarships to low-income students in Florida. The large demand led Kirtley to help push for the creation of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, which was signed into law in 2001. Kirtley had founded a previous scholarship organization, Children's Scholarship Fund of Tampa Bay in 1998 and received more than 15,000 applications for 750 available scholarships. Step Up For Students was created as part of a merger between Florida's two largest scholarship organizations Florida P.R.I.D.E and Children First, which was founded by Tampa Bay businessman John Kirtley. Step Up for Students is a 501(c)3 nonprofit in Florida providing low income students, bullied students and students with special needs with scholarships to help pay tuition for private school, assistance to attend an out of district public school, or for tutoring, textbooks or therapies. However, they can not be registered on any other state-sponsored scholarship (McKay Scholarship or Florida Tax Credit Scholarship).Children's Scholarship Fund of Tampa Bay, Florida P.R.I.D.E and Children First Students can participate in the Gardiner Scholarship Program (PLSA) as part of home education.First-grade students must be 6 years old by September 1st. The incoming kindergarten students must be 5 years on or before 1 September. Students must be at least 3 or 4 years old on September 1st.Students need an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) from a Florida school district or an official diagnosis from a Florida-licensed physician or psychologist.(Please note that students must not be older than 5 on September 1st.) Students aged 3, 4 or 5 who are lagging behind or deemed ‘high risk’ due to developmental delays may be eligible for the year they apply.The Scholarship is open to Florida Student from 3 years to 22 years old or 12th grade, whichever comes first, with the following disabilities: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Prader-Willi Syndrome, Spina Bifida, Williams Syndrome, Phelan-McDermid Syndrome, or Delayed Mind ( severe cognitive impairment).The eligibility criteria for the Gardiner Scholarship Program 2023 is stated below:
#Step up for students gardiner scholarship pdf#
However, the amount varies based on the counties and grades as stated in the Pdf below: Application s that are received on or before March 1 and found eligible on or before April 1 = 25%.The Applications which are received on or before January 1 and found eligible on or before February 1 = 50%.Applications that are received on or before October 1 and found eligible on or before November 1 = 75%.Applications that are received on or before August 1 and found eligible on or before September 1 = 100%.
The funding of the scholarship is prorated based on the date the student is found eligible by the SFO.
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