Florida scholarship funding organizations (SFOs)

Three nonprofit scholarship funding organizations (SFOs) run Florida K-12 scholarship accounts for 2026-27: Step Up For Students, AAA Scholarship Foundation and Sunshine State Kids Foundation. An SFO doesn't create the scholarships. FES-EO, FES-UA, FTC and PEP come from state law; the SFO takes applications, holds the student's account and pays schools and providers. Each student works with one SFO at a time.

The three SFOs for 2026-27

• Step Up For Students

  Based in Jacksonville, FL¹.

  2026-27 programs: FES-EO, FTC, FES-UA, PEP (closed to new students²), existing New Worlds accounts and the Transportation Stipend³.

  Platform: EMA (Education Market Assistant)⁴.

  Contact Step Up For Students · EMA guide

• AAA Scholarship Foundation

  Based in Tampa, FL¹.

  2026-27 programs: FES-EO, FTC, FES-UA and PEP (closed to new students⁵)⁶.

  Platform: Scholarship Management Platform (SMP)⁷.

  Contact AAA Scholarship Foundation · SMP guide

• Sunshine State Kids Foundation

  Based in Hollywood, FL¹.

  2026-27 programs: FES-EO and FES-UA⁸; also approved for FTC, which its website does not present separately⁹.

  Platform: Odyssey, run by a separate company¹⁰.

  Contact Sunshine State Kids Foundation · Odyssey guide

Compare them side by side, including how each pays schools and providers and the languages each publishes in: Florida scholarship organizations compared.

Who is on FDOE's list

FDOE's list of approved SFOs for 2026-27 names these three, plus the University of Florida Lastinger Center for Learning¹¹. The Lastinger Center runs only the New Worlds Reading Initiative, which provides free books; it does not run scholarship accounts¹². Some older FDOE program pages still name only two SFOs¹³; the SFO list is the current one.

What an SFO is, and what it isn't

Under Florida law, an SFO is a state university, an eligible independent Florida college, or a Florida-based 501(c)(3) charity; the State Board of Education approves each charity SFO¹⁴. The State Board took up the 2026-27 approvals on February 20, 2026¹⁵.

• The program is set by law: who qualifies, how the award is calculated and what it can pay for. See all Florida K-12 scholarship programs and eligibility.
• The SFO runs it: applications, the student's account, payments to schools and providers, reimbursements, and the purchasing handbook that explains its rules.
• No law ties a program to one SFO. Which programs each SFO runs depends on its State Board approval and what it chooses to offer¹².

For moving between organizations, see the switching FAQ. To apply, see how to apply.

Federal tax-credit organizations (SGOs) are different

The federal Education Freedom Tax Credit starts with gifts made from January 1, 2027¹⁶. It runs through scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) on a state list, not through SFOs¹². Florida's first SGO list is due February 15, 2027¹⁷, and it has not been published yet¹⁸.

• Step Up For Students set up a separate organization for the federal credit: Step Up, Step Further¹⁹.
• AAA Scholarship Foundation says it intends to act as an SGO itself²⁰.

More on the Education Freedom Tax Credit page.