Update as of 8/22/23:
Brenda and I are literally on a call with Step Up right now, and I hopped over to post this...
If you have applied for PEP, were "awarded" the FES-EO, and did the second step to select PEP, submitted your Student Learning Plan, etc, but have still not heard back that you are officially awarded PEP and still aren't showing FTCPEP status inside StepUp....
You might hear today!
They are doing mass flipovers WEEKLY, moving people to PEP, but last week they had technical issues and couldn't do that batch. They are planning a massive flipover this week... hopefully today!
If you don't get flipped over this week, then you were most likely a more recent applicant, and you should be in next week's batch.
(Also, Step Up has confirmed there are still plenty of scholarship slots available.)
Update as of 9/19/23: Step Up posted on their Facebook page yesterday, addressing those who received the Awarded email but have not yet been switched to FTCPEP in their system. See it here! https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=682804333881666&set=a.405367998291969
Please also see this more recent post about the number of remaining scholarships and the status of things: https://www.flhef.org/forum/pep-faq/update-as-of-9-14-2023-number-of-pep-awarded-v-applications-received
Update as of 9/19/23: Step Up posted on their Facebook page yesterday, addressing those who received the Awarded email but have not yet been switched to FTCPEP in their system. See it here! https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=682804333881666&set=a.405367998291969
Please also see this more recent post about the number of remaining scholarships and the status of things: https://www.flhef.org/forum/pep-faq/update-as-of-9-14-2023-number-of-pep-awarded-v-applications-received
We seem to be in limbo as well. We applied in early June for the FTC-EO (2 kids) & FTC-UA (1 kid). In EMA it shows the EO applications are "submitted" and the UA application is "on hold". We've been told by three different people at StepUp the applications are approved, but a glitch has caused them not to receive an award yet. We're in queue to be fixed and we were told it would take about 7 days to get an award ID. That was over two weeks ago and still no change. Our kids were enrolled in a private school and we've been paying out of pocket while we wait for the award. However, we've had so many issues with the school and pulled our kids last week and going back to homeschooling. I don't think we could continue paying out of pocket for much longer anyway. We should be in the tier 1 priority for PEP and I'm concerned we may be out of luck for ANY scholarship this year if the 20k limit is hit soon. I'm not sure if we'll be able to get reimbursed for what we've already paid the private school this year either. Ugghh this is frustrating. Aside from venting, I guess I can confirm they're having glitches and some of their call reps are clueless, while others seem to know the status of applications.
I just posted a related FAQ for those of you who are still waiting! https://www.flhef.org/forum/pep-faq/i-still-haven-t-been-awarded-pep-even-though-i-applied-a-long-time-ago-had-priority-what-can-i-do
Seems a lot of us are in the same boat. To try to settle our anxiety, how many applications are still available and how many PEP awards have been funded to date? Thanks Crystal for all that you do!
It's been since mid July for us.... still no change to PEP
I contacted Step Up concerned if my application had a glitch because it has been waiting to switch to PEP since early July. Many people have screen shots of being switched over soon after they applied in August that are in less priority than us. I'm told to "just wait." It's really unfair that many of us are being skipped over with no communication if our application glitched or got lost in the queue. Are families like us out of luck for funding due to what seems a lottery system?
Thank you.
Still waiting. I applied in July. I have friends who applied 2 weeks ago and are ftc pep. I am low income and applied early. It is really frustrating because it appears there is nothing I can do but just check in online forums for updates. Step up calls accomplish nothing- they appear to know less information than we do. This all appears to be very unprofessional. I'm just obviously irritated. Any help for us families stuck in fes-eo with the door closing more with each passing day?
Hi Crystal, I'm sure you guys are flooded with messages. But it appears that many of us who are renewals of the FTC/FES-EO schol, completing all three parts of the process months ago, did not get confirmations yesterday. Yet they are continuing to accept new applicants. If yesterday was the day, are we able to point this out to anyone higher up that there could be an error with the review process? Renewals are not being flipped. I just fear it will be too late and then it's a "we're sorry, apply next year." We're helpless to do anything except sit and wait as awards roll out by the 1000s - new ones. I've sent several emails to anyone who might listen and have not received any responses. If something's wrong on our part, we'd just like to be able to fix it before it's too late for funding this year.
Any idea what their method is for switching students over to PEP? I created each of my children's PEPs within minutes of each other on July 17 and 2 of them were switched over, but I am still waiting on the third one. When I contacted them they said they are not switching students over by when they were received. Just trying to understand.
Crystal, is there a better number we should call or contact given if we are a renewal (not a new applicant) and don't end up getting flipped to PEP this week? I would assume something would have to be faulty at that point but general SUFS chat and calls and email can't see account details to troubleshoot (or so I've been told by them). TIA.
I was able to login using edge. Thank you!
Also saw I was awarded and money in account! Hopefully it's the same for all!
Thank you for your updates! We have applied and been awarded, but have not been able to complete the survey. Has anyone else had log in issues? We have not been able to log in since Monday.