When Your Provider Says Step Up Hasn't Paid: What the 2026 Payment Delays Mean for Families

The email arrives from your child's tutor, or the microschool, or the therapy practice: Step Up has not paid us, and we need to talk about your account. It is one of the most stressful messages a scholarship family can receive, and in 2026 it has become common enough to deserve a plain explanation.

What is actually happening

Two public events frame this. A state operational audit released in late 2025 found that Step Up For Students did not process certain private-school tuition payments within the timelines state rules require. Then in February 2026, a group of Florida private schools filed suit against Step Up, alleging payment delays ranging from months to more than a year, partial payments and unexplained reductions. Step Up has said it believes the dispute reflects a misunderstanding of timing and funding requirements. Whatever the outcome, providers are cash-strapped and anxious, and some are turning to families.

What a family is responsible for

Your obligations are the ones in your provider agreement and the program rules. In direct billing, the provider delivers a service, submits an invoice in EMA, and you approve it; once you approve, the payment is between the provider and the funding organization. The thing you control is approving invoices promptly. A tuition invoice that sits unapproved for 30 days is deleted and the funds return to your account, which looks to the school like non-payment and is entirely preventable. What you are not responsible for is fronting money the scholarship has already been billed for, unless your signed agreement says so. Read that agreement before you respond to the email.

The paper trail that protects you

• Screenshot every invoice status in EMA the day you approve it, and the account balance beside it.
• Keep the provider's messages, and reply in writing rather than by phone, so there is a dated record of what was asked.
• Know the funding calendar. The state sends funds to the organizations on set dates each quarter, with up to two weeks of processing. A provider chasing a payment three days after a deposit date is early, not ignored.
• If you are asked to pay out of pocket, get the request in writing, get a receipt marked paid in full, and file a reimbursement immediately. Do not pay cash.

When to escalate

If an approved invoice is unpaid well past the processing window, open a case through your EMA account and note the case number; that is the channel the organization tracks. If the provider is a school on a private-school scholarship rather than a PEP provider, the dispute is between the school and the organization, and your job is to confirm your student's enrollment and award are in good standing. If a provider stops service over a payment it has not received from the organization, ask for that in writing too, and start looking for a backup provider; loyalty is admirable but your child's therapy schedule matters more.

Action items

• Log into EMA this week and approve anything pending.
• Read your provider agreements for any clause that makes you liable for delayed scholarship payments.
• Build the screenshot folder now, before there is a dispute.
• Ask each provider which route they use, direct billing or reimbursement, and confirm your understanding in writing.

Approving invoices and the 30-day window are covered in our Step Up guide, and providers who work with scholarship families are in the vendor directory.

My Learning Source is an independent marketplace and is not affiliated with Step Up For Students or the Florida Department of Education. Program rules and amounts change every cycle — confirm details on the official program pages before making financial decisions.