Scholarships available for South Florida K-12 students
MIAMI -- Families interested in receiving tuition money to their school of choice for kids K-12 can now enroll.
Parents have two choices to sign up, either through the Step Up for Students Scholarship Funding Organization or AAA Scholarship Foundation.
Only Step Up for Students is taking applications at this time.
There is no deadline to sign up, however spaces at private schools may fill up, and not all private institutions may participate.
So, here's how it works, parents enroll their kids through the SFOs, and the term scholarship is used, but it works like a voucher.
Students have to be Florida residents enrolling for K-12 grades. Once the student is enrolled, money is designated towards the school of choice after a confirmation process from the parent. Then an electronic payment is made quarter to the school of choice.
Each scholarship is worth $8,000 and parents are responsible for any additional costs.
"We're opening the doors to everyone out there including some who actually may not be aware of the scholarships and hopefully and they will be made aware of them. So applications are open to everyone," Scott Kent, Step Up for Students Strategic Comm. Dir. said.
There is no income eligibility, however priority is given to families who make 185% of the federal poverty level, which comes out to $55,000 for a family of 4 and another bracket for families of 4 making up to $120,000, or 400% of the federal poverty level.
It's not clear how many scholarships are available, as this is the first year for this program.
Students who are home-schooled can also apply to receive the funding but they will be required to meet state standards.
