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 2022 school year is $10,000. Hurry now and apply if you don’t want to miss this great opportunity.

You can quickly scroll the table of contents below to get an overview of all this post entails.

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 2022 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%

However, the amount varies based on the counties and grades as stated in the Pdf below:

Gardiner Scholarship Amount

Eligibility

The eligibility criteria for the Gardiner Scholarship Program 2022 is stated below:

The Scholarship is open to Florida Student from 3 years to 22 years old or 12th grade, whichever comes first, with the following disabilities: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Prader-Willi Syndrome, Spina Bifida, Williams Syndrome, Phelan-McDermid Syndrome, or Delayed Mind ( severe cognitive impairment).
Students aged 3, 4 or 5 who are lagging behind or deemed ‘high risk’ due to developmental delays may be eligible for the year they apply. (Please note that students must not be older than 5 on September 1st.)
Students need an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) from a Florida school district or an official diagnosis from a Florida-licensed physician or psychologist.
Students must be at least 3 or 4 years old on September 1st. The incoming kindergarten students must be 5 years on or before 1 September. First-grade students must be 6 years old by September 1st.
Students can participate in the Gardiner Scholarship Program (PLSA) as part of home education. However, they can not be registered on any other state-sponsored scholarship (McKay Scholarship or Florida Tax Credit Scholarship).

How to Apply

Renewal Families: If your child uses a Step Up Gardiner scholarship (formerly PLSA) for the 2017-2018 school year, click on the following link to apply for the 2022 school year or to access your account using your existing user name and password.

https://gardiner.sufs.org/SmartApp/Control.aspx?OSP=5

New Families: They also accepting scholarship applications for the 2022 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.

First-time applicants, please click on the link below to begin your application.

https://gardiner.sufs.org/SmartApp/Control.aspx?OSP=6

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, but you must access your account to submit documents, check status, etc. Click here to login with your existing username and password. to login with your existing username and password.

If you have forgotten your password, check out the “Forgot Password” link for help.

Application Deadline

All applications should be made on or before June 30, 2022, as funding priority will be given to those who submitted before the stated deadline.

However, all new students found eligible for the Gardiner Scholarship 2022 will be placed on a waitlist, due to a requirement to provide renewal students priority.

Application Link

For more information on the Gardiner Scholarship Program 2022, interested applicants should click on the link below:

https://www.stepupforstudents.org/for-parents/special-needs/how-the-scholarship-works/

Contact information:

If you have any questions, you can call 1-877-735-7837