TAMPA, Fla. — For the first time this school year, the state offered the new Step Up for Students scholarships.

One of them is specifically for families who choose to homeschool. It provides access to an education savings account that functions like a bank account, allowing parents to purchase curriculum and other materials needed for homeschool.

What You Need To Know

  •  Step Up for Students offers various scholarships from $500 - $7,800

  •  The scholarships are not income-based

  •  The PEP scholarship is specifically for homeschool students

One Hillsborough County family says while there were some things to work out in the beginning, this scholarship allows their family and thousands of others the freedom to choose the best school option for their children, regardless of cost.

The Shindorfs' school day starts out much like traditional school with reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, only Bella and Ronan’s classroom is the loft at home, and their teacher is their mom, Maria.

Maria admits she never thought homeschool could work for her, though.

“My husband always wanted to homeschool and I just thought, 'I’m not a teacher, how am I supposed to homeschool?' I thought that was out of my league,” she said.

Now, Maria is going on her third year of homeschooling and says she wouldn’t change a thing.

Ronan went to traditional school for VPK. Maria says he did so well, his teacher told her he needed to be challenged more, and that’s what convinced her to give homeschool a try. 

“I am able to challenge him more.  I can pull from different curriculums and it’s been great for him,” she said.

Now, she hasn’t looked back, and this school year, the Shindorfs had some extra money to put towards homeschool, thanks to the Step Up for Students scholarship.

Maria pulled up the website portal that parents use. “This has all the information for all the different scholarships they have,” she said.

Florida families can apply for the various scholarships, regardless of household income, which range from $500 to $7,800. The Shindorfs received the PEP scholarship, which stands for the Personalized Education Program.

“We’re going to spend that money anyway, we have spent that money anyway on curriculum, curriculum is expensive — school supplies, setting up a classroom, you know," she said. "Yes, we have spent that money so it is nice to get something back.”

Despite some delayed reimbursements earlier this school year, Maria says the scholarship is easy to access. 

“They tell you when you send in a reimbursement request, it could take up to 60 days for them to actually reimburse that money onto a debit card, they give you a debit card," she said.

Now, she says the kinks seem to have been worked out, thanks to Step Up for Students.

“I feel like people don’t see homeschooling as a school choice, but it is, there are other options, just like parents decide to send their kids to private school, public school, charter school — homeschool is an option,” she said.

According to Step Up for Students, the PEP program currently serves 20,000 students, and they expect it to grow by 40,000 annually.