Walk through EMA to accept, decline, or switch scholarships for 2025-2026. Accepting moves a student to Awarded status. Declining requires a reason and confirmation. Switching between Private School and Unique Abilities scholarships must be done by November 15, 2025.
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Welcome to Step up for Students. This video will serve as a guide for families on how to approve a scholarship, deny a scholarship, or switch between scholarships. Whether you're new to Step up for Students or just need a refresher, we're here to make the process simple and stress free. Let's get started for the 20252026 school year, parents and guardians can now accept or decline scholarships through their EMA accounts. Once you've entered your EMA account, you'll arrive at a screen where families can choose to either accept scholarship or decline scholarship. Please note that you may accept or decline a scholarship as long as applications are still open for the school year and the student is not currently enrolled in a school within ema. Ready to Accept Once a student is marked as eligible for a scholarship, you'll receive a prompt to log into your EMA account. There you'll have the option to either accept or decline the scholarship offer. After you select Accept, the student's status will update to Awarded. However, if the program has already reached its scholarship capacity, the status will instead show as at capacity. After you accept the scholarship, you'll see the message Scholarship Accepted appear next to your student's name in the EMA account. If you choose to decline a scholarship, simply click the Decline Scholarship button. A confirmation message will appear asking if you're sure you want to proceed. This helps prevent accidental selections. Next, choose a reason for declining the scholarship from the drop down menu. You can also add any additional comments if you'd like, then check the confirmation box to finalize your decision. Once you've completed this section, click the blue Decline Scholarship button to move forward with your selection. After the scholarship has been declined, you'll see the status updated to Declined under the application details. A timestamp will also appear showing the date the decision was made. Thinking about Switching Scholarships? Here's what you need to know if you're considering moving between the Private School Scholarship and the Unique Abilities Scholarship, there's an important first step you'll need to decline your current scholarship. This allows your student to be removed from the current program and become eligible for the new one. Please note that the last day to switch between these scholarships is November 15, 2025, so if a change is right for your family, be sure to take action before the deadline. We appreciate your time and commitment to your child's education. If you have any questions or need support, we're here to help every step of the way. Step up for Students thanks you for watching.
