Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA)

The Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA), often called the Unique Abilities Scholarship, is a state-funded education savings account for Florida students with a qualifying disability, from age 3 through high school. It requires an IEP or a diagnosis, has no income test, and can pay for private school, therapies, tutoring, curriculum and more. For 2026-27 it pays $9,627² to $39,091 a year depending on county, grade and matrix level. Step Up For Students, AAA Scholarship Foundation and Sunshine State Kids Foundation administer it³.

Other names you may see

Step Up For Students calls it the "Unique Abilities Scholarship." FES-UA replaced the McKay and Gardiner Scholarships in 2021⁴; see what happened to McKay and Gardiner. In Spanish, Step Up For Students' award charts use "Beca Necesidades Especiales"⁵, while Sunshine State Kids Foundation uses "Habilidades Únicas"⁶.

Who qualifies

Under s. 1002.394, a student qualifies if all of these are true⁷:

• The family lives in Florida, or a parent is an active-duty service member with orders to Florida.
• The child is 3 or 4 years old, or is eligible to enroll in a Florida public school in kindergarten through grade 12.
• The child has a disability on the statute's list, shown by an individualized education program (IEP) from a Florida school district or by a diagnosis from a qualified professional.

The list includes, among others, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, an intellectual disability, a speech or language impairment, an orthopedic or other health impairment, an emotional or behavioral disability, a specific learning disability (including dyslexia and dyscalculia), hearing or visual impairment, traumatic brain injury, rare diseases, anaphylaxis, hospital or homebound status, and being a "high-risk child," which covers ages 3 to 5⁸ with a developmental delay.

Step Up For Students adds its own detail: a child can start once they turn 3, if that happens by December 31 of the application year; students must be younger than 22 on September 1; and an IEP must be no more than three years old⁸. FDOE says a Section 504 plan alone is not enough⁹. If your child has no IEP, you can ask your school district to evaluate your child; the law gives the district a deadline to complete an IEP and matrix once you ask⁷.

We did not find a published list of accepted signers from AAA Scholarship Foundation or Sunshine State Kids Foundation. Check with your SFO before you get the form signed.

No income test, but a statewide cap

FES-UA has no income limit and no income priority. Renewing students are funded first, then new students first come, first served¹⁰.

The number of scholarships is capped. The cap was 72,615¹¹ in 2024-25 and rises each year by 5%¹¹ of the statewide count of non-gifted exceptional student education students. The 2026-27 number has not been published¹¹. Many students don't count toward the cap, including children of law enforcement officers and active-duty military, adopted and foster children, students who attended a Florida public school the year before, and some VPK and former McKay students¹². Step Up For Students says new applications may close early if the program reaches capacity.

How much FES-UA pays in 2026-27

The amount depends on your county, your child's grade band and the matrix of services level your school district assigns. Codes 251, 252 and 253 are matrix Levels I to III; 254 is Level IV and 255 is Level V. A student with a diagnosis but no matrix is paid at the Levels I–III amount¹³. The SFO can't set or change the matrix level; the district does.

The statewide medians for the two highest matrix levels fell slightly this year. Level IV went from $22,405¹⁴ in 2025-26 to $22,242² in 2026-27, and Level V from $35,954¹⁴ to $35,565². Students who held a Gardiner or McKay Scholarship in 2020-21 receive the greater of the current amount or their 2020-21 amount¹⁵.

Unspent money rolls over; new deposits stop only when the balance is above $50,000¹⁶.

What FES-UA can pay for

There is no rule that tuition comes first¹⁷, unlike FES-EO and FTC. Step Up For Students' 2026-27 purchasing rules allow FES-UA to pay for:

It can't pay for transportation, food, lodging or child care¹⁸. Specialized services must come from a licensed or certified provider, such as a board-certified behavior analyst for ABA, or a state-licensed speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist or physical therapist¹⁹. By law, curriculum and instructional materials are checked before payment, while services may be reviewed after purchase²⁰.

Since July 2026, FES-UA students may attend a private school part time, 2 days a week²¹ with a student learning plan. Step Up For Students pays that tuition by reimbursement only²². Each SFO publishes its own purchasing handbook, and some items differ by SFO. See the spending FAQ and finding providers.

Who administers it and how payments work

• Step Up For Students uses EMA. Families pay providers directly through Find Providers (services) and MyScholarShop (products)²³, or ask for reimbursement. See the EMA guide.
• AAA Scholarship Foundation uses its Scholarship Management Platform (SMP). It pays schools on four set dates, starting September 16, 2026²⁴, and pays vendors and reimbursements weekly: requests approved by Tuesday are paid by Friday²⁵. See the SMP guide.
• Sunshine State Kids Foundation uses the Odyssey platform, with direct payments to schools, marketplace purchases and reimbursement claims²⁶. See the Odyssey guide.

All 2026-27 payment dates are on the payment dates page.

How to apply and key dates (2026-27)

• At Step Up For Students, accepting by December 15, 2026 is also the last chance to be considered for any 2026-27 funding.
• Step Up For Students families whose PEP application is in "Pending Review" can decline PEP and apply for FES-UA until October 30, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Eastern³².
• The 2026-27 renewal window ran February 1, 2026 to April 30, 2026²⁷. Dates for 2027-28 are not published yet³³.

Apply on the SFO's own site: Step Up For Students’ Unique Abilities page, AAA Scholarship Foundation’s FES-UA page or Sunshine State Kids Foundation’s website. Our application guide explains documents and next steps.

How FES-UA differs from nearby programs

• FES-EO and FTC (the Private School Scholarship) need no disability, but money must go to private-school tuition first and amounts are lower.
• PEP also funds learning outside a full-time school, but it is closed to new students for 2026-27³⁴ and has income priority³⁵.

Related

• All Florida K-12 scholarship programs · FES-EO and FES-UA compared
• Eligibility for every program · Florida K-12 scholarship deadlines
• FAQ: eligibility · FAQ: amounts and balances · FAQ: using EMA, SMP and Odyssey
• Compare the scholarship funding organizations
• Step Up For Students · AAA Scholarship Foundation · Sunshine State Kids Foundation