Gardiner Scholarship Program 2022-2023

The Step Up For Students Organization is pleased to announce the Gardiner Scholarship Program 2022 for children with special needs.

The Gardiner Scholarship formerly called PLSA helps parents personalize the education plan for their children with special needs.

Gardiner Scholarship program differs from other state scholarships in that parents are allowed to individualize their children with unique skills and also let them have a better future.

The average amount for students in the 2021 school year is $10,000. Hurry now and apply if you don’t want to miss this great opportunity.

What You Need to Know About Gardiner Scholarship 2022-2023

Level/Field of Study

The Scholarship is open to Florida Student from 3 years to 22 years old or 12th grade with special needs or disabilities as listed in the Eligibility section below.

Host Nationality

The Step Up For Students is a USA state-approved nonprofit scholarship funding organization that administers scholarships for Florida school children.

Some of the scholarships they administer include The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program (FTC) for low-income children and Gardiner Scholarship (PLSA) for children with special needs.

Eligible Nationality

The Gardiner Scholarship Program 2021 is open to only USA citizens or permanent residents in Florida, USA.

Scholarship Worth

The funding of the scholarship is prorated based on the date the student is found eligible by the SFO.

Applications which are received on or before August 1 and found eligible on or before September 1, 100%

Applications which are received on or before October 1 and found eligible on or before November 1 = 75%

The Applications which are received on or before January 1 and found eligible on or before February 1 = 50%

Applications which are received on or before March 1 and found eligible on or before April 1 = 25%.

Eligibility Requirements

Autism spectrum disorder.
Anaphylaxis.
Being a high-risk child.
Cerebral Palsy.
Down syndrome.
Emotional or a behavioral disability.
Hospital or homebound.
Hearing impairment, including deafness.
Identification as dual sensory impaired
Intellectual disability
Language impairment
Muscular dystrophy
Other health impairment
Orthopedic impairment
Phelan-McDermid syndrome
Prader-Willi syndrome
Rare diseases
Specific learning disability
Speech impairment
Spina bifida
Traumatic brain injury
Visual impairment, including blindness
Williams syndrome

Age requirements:

Students must be at least 3 or 4 on or before Sept 1.
Students entering kindergarten must be 5 on or before Sept 1.
Students entering first grade must be 6 on or before Sept 1.

How to Apply

Renewal Families: If your child uses a Step Up Gardiner scholarship (formerly PLSA) for the 2017-2018 school year.

New Families: They also accept scholarship applications for the 2021 school year, with priority being given to previously waitlisted students.

All applicants must have an email address to create an online application. If you do not have an active email address, create one first to start the application.

Important Note:

If you are an applicant who applied for the Gardiner Scholarship with Step Up in a previous year or have started an application for the 2022-2023 school year, you must access your account to submit all your documents, check status, etc.

For change of password, check out the “Forgot Password” link for help.