What can PEP funds be used for?

There is some room for discretion on Step Up's end as to what they consider to fall within various categories. Pre-authorization can take months, so your best bet would be to reach out to Step Up via chat/call and ask for guidance on whether those items are considered "sports" for reimbursement purposes. Or, if you've already done the classes and have the receipts, you could submit them for reimbursement as sports and see if it goes through. I've seen other parents saying that the Step Up processsors will sometimes move things to the appropriate category themselves, if they feel a parent submitted a reimbursement request under an incorrect category.

Pre-authorization isn't even available yet on the website. They have really bungled rolling this out.

Also, even if someone on the phone tells you it would be considered a sport, that doesn't mean the people reviewing reimbursement requests would agree?

If the homeschool program you're using qualifies under the criteria for a "home education instructional program," then yes. You can find those guidelines in the Purchasing Guide.

Thank you. I guess this is where I'm not getting an answer. What do they mean by publicly and published. Does it need to be on their website or just available?

• Have publicly available/reviewable program descriptions of courses and/or activities.

• Have a published tuition & fee schedule.

Thank you so much for your help.

It needs to be where Step Up can look it up and verify it's a legitimate program. What they're trying to avoid are fraud situations or situations where, for example, two parents decide to claim they're a "home education instructional program" and then pay each other using PEP funds. (Which is part of why "cannot meet in a home" is on the list of criteria.) They want it to be an actual business organization/established program that has set tuition and fees, course descriptions, etc.

Thank you for clairifying Crystal. We appreciate you! 💗

You're welcome!

Hi, Jennifer! I actually have an email out to Step Up for clarification on a few things, and this is one of them. The statute specifies only certain categories of purchases that PEP funds can be used for (as noted above), but the Purchasing Guide seems to include some categories beyond those. Whether this is just Step Up's interpretation of what falls into the categories from statute or not, is what I'm trying to clarify with them. Since the guide does include information for multiple scholarships, I want to be sure the guide isn't confusing or misleading PEP parents as to what will be covered. For now, this is all we know... what's listed in statute, and what's in the Purchasing Guide. But as soon as I have confirmation from Step Up directly on these things, I'll update the related FAQs here in the forum. I hope to hear back soon!

Thanks Crystal!

It is not available yet. We don't have an exact date that it will be released. We do know the funds will most likely be released into students' accounts around the first of September. If Step Up follows the setup they've had so far with other scholarships, then there will be an official pre-authorization form, reimbursement request form, etc., provided---inside their EMA portal, most likely. Right now, none of that is released yet.

Crystal, thanks for all your help. At the beginning of this post, you mention;

Please note that the Purchasing Guide covers approved uses for all FTC FES-EO funds, some of which do not apply to PEP, so please read it carefully! The Purchasing Guide clearly specifies if/when a listed use does not apply to PEP students...

However, I received this response from a Step Up chat session...

The purchasing guide is strictly for PEP students! There is a separate one for other programs, let me be sure you have the right link.

08:43:38

https://go.stepupforstudents.org/hubfs/GUIDES/FTC%20FES-EO%20Purchasing%20Guide%202023-24.pdf

...Basically, In sum, I still feel a little unclear about how to view the items listed on the purchasing guide. If it is specifically listed(school supplies, admission, legos!, etc.) as a PEP student, how confident should I feel about reimbursement?

Hi, Doug. So... whomever you spoke to in the chat session is incorrect. The guide is called the FTC FES-EO Purchasing Guide because it contains information on FTC scholarships (of which PEP is one) and FES-EO (which is a different scholarship, funded differently and with different qualifications---it is for students going full time to private school. It is not the same as PEP). Brenda and I have been on a call with Step Up representatives, and they confirmed that this guide is, in fact, a blend. They were trying to have one resource that covered multiple scholarships. (Honestly, that may have confused some things. I've got an email out to them for clarification on some of the items in the Guide and am waiting to hear back.) Step Up's call center seems not to be fully informed on PEP and are giving some incorrect information to parents. It's frustrating, but that's the reality right now. Step Up DOES mean well, but they're still in the process of training everyone and making sure every single person at the call centers are properly trained on PEP and related questions. In the meantime, we're doing our best to keep people informed on the things we know with certainty from statute, here in the forum and on our Livestreams... but some questions really are Step Up questions (like whether a specific curriculum/resource/etc will be covered, questions specific to an account, etc.). I hope that a lot of this confusion will quickly clear, but for now, this is where things are! Please bear with it (it will all get worked out eventually!), and if you have confusion or questions, please reach out to us!