Step Up For Students

What Step Up For Students does

Step Up For Students is a Jacksonville, Florida-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2001 and designated by the State of Florida as the Scholarship Funding Organization (SFO) to administer state-authorized school choice scholarship programs. The organization administers a portfolio of scholarship products including the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC), Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO), Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA), Personalized Education Program (PEP), New Worlds Scholarship, Hope Scholarship, and a Transportation Stipend, serving PreK-12 Florida students across private school, home education, unique abilities, and public school transfer segments. Average scholarship awards range from $750 (transportation) to approximately $10,000 for standard private school and unique abilities scholarships, with high-need unique abilities students eligible for $22,000-$34,000.

The underlying technology consists of the Education Management Application (EMA) for online scholarship application, account management, reimbursement processing, and provider coordination, complemented by the MyScholarShop marketplace for purchasing pre-approved educational products and services with scholarship funds at negotiated pricing. The organization also operates the NextSteps and inspirED content platforms for education choice commentary. Revenue is derived from three streams: corporate Florida Tax Credit Scholarship donations (dollar-for-dollar tax credits), individual and corporate charitable giving, and administrative funding as the state-designated SFO. Funding is geographically restricted to Florida, with 98.9% of received funds directed to scholarships, indicating a lean administrative cost structure. The organization has funded 1 million+ scholarships since inception and celebrated the FTC scholarship's 25th anniversary in July 2026.

Name

Step Up For Students

Legal name

Step Up For Students

Website

https://stepupforstudents.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Step Up For Students is a Florida-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit designated by the state as the Scholarship Funding Organization to administer school choice scholarships (FTC, FES-EO, FES-UA, PEP, New Worlds, Hope) for PreK-12 students, having funded 1M+ scholarships since 2001.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Scholarship Administration

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarships, Grants & Education Benefits Administration (Financing-adjacent) (FSAKAEAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Title I & Compensatory Education Programs (EDAJAGAJ), Scholarship, Financial Aid & FAFSA Support Platforms (EDAFAMAF)

Keywords

• K-12 scholarship administration
• Education savings accounts
• Florida tax credit scholarships
• School choice programs
• Nonprofit education funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Jacksonville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Donations: Corporate donors contribute to the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program in exchange for dollar-for-dollar tax credits, providing the primary funding mechanism for scholarship distributions to students
2. Charitable Giving: Individual and corporate charitable donations supporting scholarship programs through various giving options including donor advised funds, planned giving, vehicle donations, and workplace giving
3. Program Administration: As the designated Scholarship Funding Organization (SFO) by the State of Florida, the organization receives administrative funding to manage state-authorized scholarship programs including FES-EO and FES-UA

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Step Up For Students administers Florida's state-authorized K-12 scholarship programs, including the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC), Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO), Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA), Personalized Education Program (PEP), New Worlds Scholarship, Hope Scholarship, and Transportation Stipend. The organization distributes scholarship funds as education savings accounts to eligible Florida families and operates the EMA platform for application/account management and the MyScholarShop marketplace for purchasing approved educational products and services.

Product overview

Step Up For Students is a nonprofit organization administering Florida's state-authorized scholarship programs. The organization operates a portfolio of scholarship products including the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC), Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO), Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA), Personalized Education Program (PEP), Transportation Stipend, New Worlds Scholarship, and Hope Scholarship. These programs function as both standalone offerings and interconnected platform with shared infrastructure including the Education Management Account (EMA) for account management, MyScholarShop marketplace for purchasing approved educational products and services, and NextSteps news platform for education choice awareness. Scholarships range from $750 (transportation) to over $22,000 (Unique Abilities for high-need students), serving PreK-12 students across Florida.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Private School Scholarship (Florida Tax Credit Scholarship - FTC)

Quantifiable outcome

• 98.9% of funds received are used for scholarships, demonstrating highly efficient program administration
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Americans for Prosperity Foundation-FloridaminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 February 2025Co-host of Southwest Florida School Choice Fair held in Fort Myers, Florida, connecting families with educational options and scholarship organizations during National School Choice Week 2025.
• National School Choice Awareness FoundationminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 February 2025Partner for National School Choice Week events, providing national platform and resources for school choice fair programming across Florida.
• Florida Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDesignated Scholarship Funding Organization (SFO) by the State of Florida to administer state-authorized scholarship programs including Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and Family Empowerment Scholarships.
• Florida Private SchoolscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork of private schools participating in scholarship programs, enrolling scholarship students and receiving tuition payments through the EMA system.
• Service Providers (Tutors, Therapists, Specialists)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEducational service providers approved to serve scholarship students, including tutors, therapists, and specialists who receive payment through the scholarship system.
• Product VendorscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCurriculum providers, educational material suppliers, and product vendors listed on MyScholarShop marketplace offering pre-approved products for scholarship purchases.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• AAA Scholarship Foundation: Another Florida-based approved Scholarship Funding Organization administering tax-credit and K-12 scholarships with comparable programs (including the Gardiner/FES-UA successor and home-education scholarships). It is the closest direct competitor for Florida SFO designation and corporate tax-credit contributions.

Others

• American Federation for Children: A national school-choice advocacy organization actively lobbying for ESA and tax-credit scholarship programs across multiple states. It is a strategic partner in expanding the policy environment that enables SUFS's growth but does not itself administer scholarships.
• National School Choice Awareness Foundation: The organizer of National School Choice Week with 27,000+ events nationwide and a co-marketing partner of SUFS at Florida school choice fairs. Adjacent in mission (school-choice awareness) but functions as a non-profit advocacy/media partner rather than a scholarship administrator.
• EdChoice: A national school-choice research and advocacy organization producing policy research, polling, and state-by-state school-choice rankings. It is thematically aligned with SUFS's mission and supports ESA/scholarship policy but does not administer scholarships directly.
• GreatSchools: A non-profit K-12 information platform providing school profiles, ratings, and parent resources that families consult alongside SUFS resources when choosing schools. It is an adjacent ecosystem player rather than a direct competitor.

Emerging players

• Khan Academy: A major non-profit educational platform offering free K-12 tutoring, test prep, and learning content that families purchase with SUFS scholarship funds via MyScholarShop. It is an emerging player in the educational content and tutoring ecosystem that SUFS helps families access.
• Hillsdale Charter Schools: A growing network of tuition-free, classical liberal-arts K-12 charter schools affiliated with Hillsdale College. It represents an emerging K-12 choice delivery model that competes for the same families served by SUFS scholarships.

Broad incumbents

• FACTS (Follett): A leading K-12 school administration platform handling tuition management, financial aid assessment, and enrollment for private and faith-based schools. Comparable in serving the private-school financial workflow that SUFS touches through the EMA platform and MyScholarShop marketplace.
• Blackbaud: A large enterprise software provider for nonprofits, schools, and foundations offering fundraising, financial management, and tuition management solutions. Comparable as a broader technology incumbent in the education/nonprofit software space where SUFS's EMA platform sits.
• Stride (formerly K12 Inc.): A large for-profit online K-12 education provider and tuition/education services operator that intersects with the K-12 choice and ESA landscape. It is a broad incumbent in the alternative K-12 delivery model that SUFS scholarships help families access.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/stepup4students
• Xx.com/stepup4students
• Facebookfacebook.com/stepup4students

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Step Up For Students