Waiting on a scholarship payment that never seems to show up is stressful, especially when you're counting on those funds for tuition or services your child needs right now. You're not imagining that delays have been widespread. Here's what's actually behind them, and exactly what to check before you assume something has gone wrong.
The short answer: Step Up for Students commits to initiating FES-EO tuition payments within 14 days and processing reimbursements within 60 days. A 2025 state audit found the organization did not always meet these windows during its rapid 2023-24 growth period. If your payment is late, check your EMA status first, then contact Step Up directly using the steps below.
What the state audit actually found
This isn't just anecdotal frustration, it's documented by Florida's own Auditor General. Report No. 2025-185 examined Step Up's handling of Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and Family Empowerment Scholarship payments between July 2023 and March 2024. It found that Step Up did not timely process Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO) private school tuition payments in accordance with State rules, and did not promptly process FTC Scholarship tuition or transportation payments either.
The specifics: some FES-EO payments were delayed up to 35 days past the required 14-day initiation window. Reimbursements sampled in the audit averaged 90 days, well past Step Up's own stated 60-day policy. (Source: Florida Auditor General Report No. 2025-185)
A separate audit covering the fall of 2025 found a related issue: roughly 27,000 students in the first quarter of the 2025-26 school year were "matched" as appearing on both a scholarship roster and a public school enrollment roster simultaneously, which automatically freezes funding until it's resolved. More than $7 million had already been disbursed before that verification was complete. (Source: Florida Phoenix) If this sounds like what's happening to you, we cover that specific scenario in detail in Why Did Step Up Freeze My Scholarship? The Quarterly Crosscheck Explained.
What Step Up has said about this
Step Up hasn't denied that the 2023-24 expansion period was difficult. CEO Gretchen Schoenhaar responded to the audit findings in a letter, describing the period as "a unique period of history growth and opportunity" that happened "in a compressed time," and said Step Up is "proud" to have learned administrative lessons from it. (Cited in: WLRN)
Step Up's own FAQ also gives a realistic picture of current processing times, rather than promising instant turnaround: reimbursement review "varies depending on the time of year and the number of orders being manually processed," with a stated goal of 7 business days, and up to 60 days as the outer allowance. (Source: Step Up For Students FAQ)
It's also worth knowing Step Up is currently expanding its support infrastructure. As of July 2026, the organization posted openings for an entire new Provider Partnership Management team, five regional roles plus a Director and a Communications Manager, specifically focused on improving issue resolution and relationship management. That's a concrete, current sign of investment in this exact problem, not just a promise.
What to check before you assume something's wrong
Before calling Step Up or worrying further, it helps to know exactly which clock you're on, since different scholarship types and different request types have different timelines:
- FES-EO tuition payments: Step Up's commitment is to initiate payment within 14 days of receiving an approved invoice.
- Reimbursement requests: allow up to 60 days for review and processing, with a stated internal goal of 7 business days when volume allows.
- Transportation payments: Step Up's own Parent Handbook uses a 60-day timeline as the internal measure of timeliness.
If you're inside these windows, the delay, while frustrating, is technically within Step Up's stated policy. If you're past them, that's when it's worth escalating.
What to actually do if you're past the window
- Log into EMA and check your exact status first. "Submitted," "Pending," and "On Hold" all mean different things and require different actions. See our full breakdown in Step Up for Students Status Meanings if you're not sure what your status means.
- Keep a written log of every submission date. If you need to escalate, having exact dates ready speeds up the call significantly.
- Contact Step Up directly through chat at stepupforstudents.org or by phone at (877) 735-7837, referencing your specific status and how many days past the stated window you are.
- If your funding was frozen rather than simply delayed, that's often a different, specific issue, see our guide on the quarterly crosscheck process for that scenario specifically.
The bottom line
Payment delays at Step Up have been real and well-documented, not just individual bad luck. But most delays trace back to specific, known causes: rapid program growth straining processing capacity, or a crosscheck flag that needs a specific document to resolve. Knowing your exact status and your program's specific timeline is the fastest way to tell whether you're still within normal range or whether it's time to follow up.
While you wait on a payment, browse Florida Education Vendors to find approved providers who accept direct payment or offer flexible billing, so a processing delay doesn't have to mean a service delay for your child.
Sources cited in this article: Florida Auditor General Report No. 2025-185, WLRN, Florida Phoenix, Step Up For Students FAQ.