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How to become a Step Up For Students vendor in Florida

Florida's largest choice scholarships (Unique Abilities, Educational Options, Florida Tax Credit, Personalized Education and New Worlds) are administered by Step Up For Students. Providers set up an account in its EMA system, submit a service catalog with credentials, and are paid directly or through family reimbursement.

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Checked against official sources on Oct 8, 2026

Run by

Step Up For Students, for the state

When you can bill

After the service is delivered1

Prepaid services

Up to 3 months ahead2

Provider types

2 with their own documents

Who can apply

  • Providers who want direct payment from families set up a business or personal account in Step Up's EMA system and submit a catalog of eligible services. Creating an account doesn't guarantee your offerings will be approved.3
  • Create a business account if you bill for services or employ providers; every employee whose service needs an individual credential creates a personal account, which the business approves and links. Payment always goes to the business account.3
  • Tutoring, specialized services (ABA, speech, OT, PT), music and art therapy, Choice Navigators and annual home-education evaluations all require a personal account linked to an approved business.1
  • Which scholarships a service can be paid from varies by category: part-time tutoring is eligible across Unique Abilities, the private-school scholarships, PEP and New Worlds, while specialized services and therapies are Unique Abilities only.4
  • Multiple locations need location-specific contact details in the EMA Marketplace but must share one tax ID and bank account.1

Documents by provider type

Part-time tutors

  • One credential, such as a Florida educator's certificate, an adjunct or another state's professional teaching certificate, NBPTS or ABCTE certification, or certification from an approved research-based program such as Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, Barton or ALTA.5
  • Or a bachelor's or graduate degree in the subject you teach, or a passing Florida subject-area exam (FTCE) score under 10 years old. These need an extra document showing your credential matches the subject.5
  • Your service catalog lists the name of the person tutoring and proof of their credential. Part-time tutoring is capped at 720 hours a year per student in grades K-3 and 900 hours in grades 4-12; above that, use the full-time tutoring category.5

Therapists and specialized services (Unique Abilities only)

  • A Florida Department of Health license for the service, approval as a provider by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, or approval as a Specialized Instructional Services provider by the Office of Early Learning. Your catalog includes your FLDOH license number.6
  • Covered: ABA by a BCBA, speech-language pathology, occupational and physical therapy, listening and spoken language, licensed psychotherapy or counseling, and vision therapy by a licensed optometrist. Services can be delivered online, and outside Florida if you're credentialed.6
  • Not covered: massage, acupuncture, chiropractic and other therapies, and catalogs submitted by assistants, interns or technicians (submit under the supervising credentialed therapist).6

How you get paid

  1. 1Families pay providers directly through EMA, or pay out of pocket and request reimbursement from the scholarship account.1
  2. 2Direct payment can only be requested after the service is delivered, and it goes to the business account, never to an individual's personal account.1
  3. 3Families may ask you for documentation to support a reimbursement request. What's required depends on the service category.7

What trips providers up

  • Step Up can suspend or revoke a provider and stop all payments for misuse, misrepresentation or fraud.2
  • Odyssey also publishes 2026-27 help for Florida FES-EO and FES-UA families and runs a Florida vendor application. Confirm which organization administers the scholarships of the families you serve.8

When families pay you directly

  • FES-EO and FES-UA families can be reimbursed with documentation showing what was bought, when, from whom, how it was paid, and that payment completed.9
Check a receipt before it's submitted

Sources

  1. 1.2024-25 FES-UA School and Provider Handbook, Step Up For Students, p. 17, updated Jan 14, 2025
  2. 2.2024-25 FES-UA School and Provider Handbook, Step Up For Students, p. 19, updated Jan 14, 2025
  3. 3.2024-25 FES-UA School and Provider Handbook, Step Up For Students, p. 16, updated Jan 14, 2025
  4. 4.Eligible Services per Scholarship Type (chart), Step Up For Students, updated Jul 29, 2026
  5. 5.Part-Time Tutoring provider guide, Step Up For Students, updated Sep 30, 2025
  6. 6.Specialized Services provider guide, Step Up For Students, updated Sep 5, 2025
  7. 7.2024-25 FES-UA School and Provider Handbook, Step Up For Students, p. 18, updated Jan 14, 2025
  8. 8.Florida Empowerment Scholarship Program Overview, Odyssey help center, updated Jun 18, 2026
  9. 9.FES EO and FES UA Reimbursement Documentation FAQs, Odyssey help center, updated Sep 2, 2026

Spot something out of date? Tell us and we'll re-check it against the source.

Photo: DXR, CC BY-SA 4.0

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