Contributing to Florida Prepaid Plans (2026–2027) | Step-by-Step Guide for FES-UA Families

Welcome and thank you for joining us. We are excited to explore how families can make the most of their Family Empowerment Scholarship Funds for College Savings. This important initiative enables students and their guardians to plan for the future effectively. This guide offers detailed step by step instructions and valuable insights for FESUA families interested in directing their Family Empowerment Scholarship Funds toward an approved college savings program. We will cover how to submit service orders for contributions to either an investment 529 plan or a prepaid 529 plan. Before we begin, here are the requirements the guardian must establish a prepaid 529 plan with Florida Prepaid. The name of the beneficiary student on the Florida529 account must precisely match the name of the scholarship recipient. This alignment is crucial for sufs to process direct payments to the account effectively. Important notice Step up is unable to provide the student's plan number. If you cannot find this number, please reach out to Florida Prepaid. This information is vital as having the correct plan number guarantees that your transactions and communications proceed smoothly and accurately. Let's discuss how you can find the 11 digit account number for your student's prepaid 529 tuition plan or prepaid investment plan. The first step is to log into the Florida Prepaid portal. Once there, direct your attention to the dashboard. We've included an example on the screen to help guide you. You'll be looking for the number marked as the plan number on the dashboard. You can also find this number by checking your Florida Prepaid statement. On your statement you'll see the account number listed. We've highlighted an example on the screen which will guide you on where to look. Remember, having this number is essential for managing your Florida prepaid plans efficiently. Choose your path. The Investment 529 plan, often referred to as the Florida 529 Savings Program, provides a flexible way to save at your own pace while offering potential for tax free growth. On the other hand, the prepaid 529 plan, known as the Stanley G. Tate Prepaid College Program, enables families to prepay tuition at current rates, guaranteeing savings for the future. Both programs present distinct advantages tailored to meet your family's specific needs. Let's take a moment to Explore the Florida Investment 529 plan, an excellent opportunity for families to save for college in a way that's flexible, affordable and tax advantaged. This plan is designed to make higher education more attainable by easing the financial burden through smart forward thinking saving strategies for families already enrolled in the Florida Investment 529 plan, you can use your student's Education Market Assistant account, better known as emma, to set up Direct Pay. This streamlined feature allows scholarship funds to be transferred directly, making the process more efficient and impactful. To effectively request a direct payment into a Florida 529 investment plan, you'll need to include several specific details. First, make sure you have the scholarship student's first and last name clearly listed. Next, ensure you provide the Florida Investment 529 Plan account number. Finally, specify the service type, which is the Family Empowerment Plan. To utilize scholarship funds for the Florida Investment 529 plan, families should follow these 1. Begin by signing into your EMMA account. 2. From the dashboard menu on the left, select Marketplace and then click on the Marketplace tile. The family should utilize the Find Providers feature. Funds from the Unique Abilities Scholarship that are deposited into a Florida Investment 529 plan can only be applied toward post second secondary expenses and cannot be used for kindergarten through 12th grade costs, including those related to private schools. Select the student you would like to contribute to. Then, in the Service category box, choose the Florida Investment 529 Plan Florida 529 College Savings and click on Search. After you've selected the service provider, it's credit crucial to choose the correct location associated with that provider when you're ready to contribute. This is where you'll specify the rate or amount for your student's Florida 529 college savings plan. Remember, once you set this amount, it can't be changed, so it's important to be sure about your decision. Before proceeding in the Notes field, you'll need to enter the account number for your Florida 529 Savings Plan, also known as the Investment 529 Plan. It's crucial to double check the amount you're planning to contribute. Once you're satisfied with the details, go ahead and select Reserve funds. Once You've added the FL529 investment savings plan to your cart, the next step is to select reserve funds to move forward to check out after reserving your funds. An important step is to confirm that you give permission to send your contact information to the provider. You'll see a checkbox for this. Make sure to check yes and then hit the Confirm button. How do I see my funds in my Florida Prepaid Account? Start by logging into your Florida Prepaid account and navigating to the Payment History page within the Customer Account Management Portal or camp. This page provides a detailed record of all incoming payments made toward your prepaid plans, organized by date. You'll also be able to view the names of the students associated with each plan you own, keep in mind that prepaid plan payments are due on the 20th of each month. However, as the account owner, you can make payments at any time. Once submitted, your payments will appear on this page and will be officially applied to your plan on the due date. This is a helpful way to stay informed and ensure your contributions are being processed correctly. Please note the important deadlines to keep your Florida prepaid contributions verified and processed in the same month. Let's focus on the key aspect of the prepaid account statement. The Build column is crucial because it reflects the funds that have been applied to each prepaid plan. This means you can easily see how much has been allocated to each plan. It's a straightforward way to track the status of your investments, offering a clear picture of how your funds are being managed. Now we're going to transition and focus on the Florida Prepaid 529 plans. Prepaid 529 plans work a little differently. Instead of investing in the market, these plans allow families to lock in future college costs at today's prices, helping provide predictability and peace of mind when planning for higher education. In this next section, we'll walk through two ways parents can contribute Direct Pay, where payments are made directly to Florida Prepaid through your EMA account, and Reimbursement, where you pay Florida Prepaid first and then request reimbursement through Emma. To start a Direct Pay request for a prepaid 529 plan, log into the emiguardian portal. From the Dashboard menu, select Marketplace, then click Find Providers. When the page loads, select your student's name from the blue drop down menu. From there, continue selecting the Prepaid Plan option so you can submit the contribution request. After selecting your student, you'll see several drop down menus. Working from left to right, open the Service category menu and choose Stanley G. Tate, Florida Prepaid College Program. This selection ensures your request routes to the correct provider and plan type. Next is the Service Type menu. This is where you select the eligible plan type you want to contribute to. Choose the option that matches your student's Florida Prepaid Plan. Selecting the correct plan type helps prevent delays in verification and payment processing. Here are the eligible plan types you may see in the Service type list, select the plan that matches the plan you have established for your student with Florida Prepaid. Once you've selected all required drop down items, click Add to Cart, then proceed to Checkout. Completing checkout allows Step up for students to verify the account information and send funding on the Step student's behalf before submitting, take a final moment to confirm your selections are correct. If you choose to pay your Florida prepaid tuition plan out of pocket, you may be able to request reimbursement from your student scholarship account. The next slides outline the step by step reimbursement process in ema. Following each step carefully and uploading the right documents helps avoid delays. To begin, log into your EMA account. From the left side Dashboard menu, select Reimbursements, then click New to start a new reimbursement request. This opens the reimbursement intake process. Use the drop down menu to select the correct student. Once the student is selected, click Continue to Receipt Selection. This step ensures your documentation is tied to the correct scholarship account. Now upload your documentation. Click Browse to select your file, or drag and drop the file onto the upload icon. Upload the invoice or statement along with proof of payment or a receipt. Whatever best supports the reimbursement you are requesting. Once your receipt is uploaded, a preview image will appear. You can select Quick View to enlarge the image, or click X to upload a different file. When you're ready to proceed, click Continue to Item Service Selection. You'll briefly see a loading screen while EMMA processes your document. During this step, EMA attempts to detect line items from the receipt or invoice to make the next steps easier. If EMMA detects line items, you'll be taken to a screen with a document preview on the left and Detected Items Services on the right. You can zoom in and you may also have the option to open the document in a new window for a clearer view. Use the checkboxes to select the item or items you want to submit for reimbursement. These selections will carry over to the next screen. If you don't select items here, that's okay. You can still continue and manually add the line items in the next step. On this screen. Review and complete the details for each line item. Confirm the description, quantity, and amounts as needed. Once everything is accurate, click Continue to Additional Documents to proceed. If you need to add or remove additional documentation, you can do that here. Once you've confirmed all supporting files are included, click Continue to Summary. This is your final review. Emma calculates each line item's total based on quantity and tax. Carefully confirm the amounts match your documentation. If everything is correct, click Submit for Approval to send your reimbursement request for review. After submission, the reimbursement page header will update to include your reimbursement number. Save this number. It's useful for tracking follow up questions or support requests. If your requested amount exceeds the available balance in your student's account, you'll see an on screen error message. The screen will refresh and return you to the request form form so you can adjust the amount. When you revise the request, add a comment explaining that the reimbursement amount was capped due to available funding and may no longer match the total shown on the attached documentation. For plan specific or billing questions such as how funds are invested, used once deposited, or tuition billing details. Families should contact Florida Prepaid directly if a payment is not showing yet, confirm whether the request is still pending or if additional documentation is needed to complete processing for additional support. Reference the reimbursement resources available to you, including how to submit a reimbursement in EMA and reimbursement guidance for scholarship families. These resources can help you troubleshoot common issues and confirm you're submitting the correct documentation. Before we close, please note these important restrictions for scholarship funded contributions to a Florida 529 account. The account owner cannot change the beneficiary of an account that contains scholarship funds. If an account includes both private funds and scholarship funds. Private funds are used first to pay plan benefits. If a Florida 529 plan is closed, scholarship funds may return return to the open scholarship account with any interest or to the State of Florida if the scholarship account has been or is being closed. If a student's scholarship account closes for any reason, scholarship contributed funds in the Florida 529 plan will be returned to the State of Florida if a student Already has a Florida 529 plan. Scholarship funds are managed separately from privately contributed funds that are invested. Our support is available Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm Eastern Standard Time. You can visit our website at sufs.org to chat with us directly or call us at 877-735-7837. Our team is ready to assist you with any questions or concerns you might have. We're committed to supporting you every step of the way. Thanks for watching.