Step Up for Students has officially extended the 2025-26 reimbursement deadline. Here is what changed, who it applies to, and one important exception families need to know about.
Updated July 5, 2026, based on the official Step Up for Students announcement of July 1, 2026
On July 1, 2026, Step Up for Students announced that the 2025-26 reimbursement request deadline has been extended by three months. Families now have until Saturday, October 31, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET to submit reimbursement requests for eligible items or services purchased between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026.
Step Up stated the extension was granted to give families additional time to submit their requests. The new date was not included in the 2025-26 Family Handbooks, as the change came after those were published.
The extension does not apply to inactive accounts. Step Up defines an inactive account as one with no spending activity during both the prior fiscal year (July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025) and the current fiscal year (July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026). If your account had no purchases in either year, the original July 31 deadline may still apply to you. Contact Step Up directly to confirm your account status.
Having more time is good news, but it is not a reason to delay. Submissions that sit in "more information needed" status still have a 30-day response window from the date of the notice. If a notice is sent in late October and you miss it, the reimbursement is still lost regardless of the extended deadline.
You got the extension, now make the most of it. Florida PEP Tracker pulls all your submissions into one place so you can see exactly what's pending, what still needs receipts, and what's already paid. No spreadsheets, no guessing, no last-minute panic. Just log in and get it done before October 31.
Complete your submissions with Florida PEP Tracker →