Paying with Step Up or an ESA

If your child has a state or third-party scholarship, such as Step Up For Students or an education savings account (ESA), you can choose My scholarship pays at checkout. Your spot is held right away. Your program then pays the organization directly, so the money never goes through Famlo. You can only do this with organizations that accept your program for that class. Everywhere else you pay by card and can claim the money back with a Famlo receipt.

This page covers state and third-party programs. A scholarship that an organization gives from its own funds works differently. See Scholarships from an organization.

Book a spot with My scholarship pays

1. On the class page, look for the Accepts scholarships label and the "Paying with a scholarship" note: "[organization] accepts scholarship funds for this class. Choose your program when you register."
2. Start registering as usual. At Who pays for each spot?, choose My scholarship pays for each child your program covers.
3. Under Which scholarship or program?, pick your program from the list. The list only shows programs this organization accepts.
4. Finish checkout. The summary shows the scholarship part as Due by scholarship. Nothing is charged to your card for that spot.

What the option says depends on how your program pays:

• For programs you send an invoice to: "We'll invoice [organization] so you can submit it to your program. Your spot is held now."
• For Step Up For Students through EMA: "Nothing to pay today. After you book, reserve the funds for [organization] in Step Up For Students' EMA. Your spot is held now." When the organization sets a deadline, the line says so before you book, for example "within 24 hours" or "before the first class".

You can mix payers in one order. For example, Step Up can pay for one child while another child's spot goes on your card. Only the card part is charged now.

No booking fee. Scholarship spots carry no booking fee, because your program pays the organization directly and the money never passes through Famlo. Any part you pay by card has the usual booking fee. See What families pay.

Step Up and ESA spots are paid all at once. If a class offers payments over time, that option is card only. See Paying for a class over time.

After you book: your next step

Your confirmation page and email both say what to do next. The email includes a link to your invoice and the invoice PDF. There are two kinds of next step.

Step Up For Students (EMA): reserve the funds

With Step Up, you don't send the invoice anywhere. You reserve the funds for the organization in EMA. Once you've done that, the organization bills Step Up.

1. Log in to Step Up For Students' EMA.
2. Find the organization's listing. Your invoice shows the listing name and, when the organization has given one, its provider ID, for example "Find Sunnyside Learning Co. LLC, provider ID P-12345."
3. Reserve the amount shown for your child.
4. Back on Famlo, open your invoice and select I've reserved the funds so the organization knows.

Deadlines. An organization can ask you to reserve funds within 24, 48 or 72 hours of booking, or before the first class. When it does, the invoice shows a line like "[organization] needs this by Mon Oct 12, 7:00 PM", in the organization's time zone. If you haven't marked the funds reserved, Famlo sends one reminder email about six hours before the deadline: "Reserve [child]'s Step Up For Students funds in EMA · N hours left". It repeats the steps and has a link to tell the organization you've already done it. The reminder follows your Event reminders email setting in Notifications.

Missing the deadline doesn't cancel your booking by itself. The organization sees it and decides what happens next, so message them if you're running late.

Programs that pay from an invoice you submit

1. Open your invoice and select Download PDF.
2. Submit the PDF to your program the way your program asks.
3. Back on Famlo, select I've submitted it so the organization knows it's on the way.

Your program then pays the organization. The organization marks the invoice paid when the money arrives.

Your scholarship invoice

The organization issues the invoice when you book: one invoice per child for each calendar month. If you book another class for the same child at the same organization in the same month, it's added to that invoice.

To find it, open Family › Payments & invoices and select Scholarship (1). The count on that tab shows how many invoices are waiting on you. Each invoice shows its status (2). Select the row, then Open invoice.

The invoice page has:

• Progress steps: Booked, Invoice ready, then your step (You reserve the funds or You submit it to [program], marked "Waiting on you" until it's done), then "[program] pays [organization]".
• Your next step ("Next step: reserve funds in EMA" or "Next step: send this to [program]"), with the numbered EMA steps or the submit instructions, and the button I've reserved the funds or I've submitted it (1).
• Download PDF (2), the same file that came with your confirmation email.
• The invoice itself below, ready to print or forward to a reviewer.

After you select the button, the page says "Marked as submitted. [organization] can see it." Your step then shows "Funds reserved [date]" or "Submitted [date]" and what you're waiting for. If you marked it by mistake, select Not submitted yet? Undo.

If your program sends the invoice back for a correction, the page says "[program] sent it back for a correction, and [organization] is fixing it." There's nothing for you to do.

When the organization records the payment, the invoice shows Paid: "[organization] received the payment on [date]. Nothing more to do." You also get an email, "[organization] received your scholarship payment".

If you booked on an organization's own website, the same invoice is also in its Parent portal.

Statuses in Payments & invoices

Status	What it means
Reserve funds	Step Up: reserve the funds in EMA, then mark it on the invoice.
Ready to submit	Submit the invoice to your program, then mark it on the invoice.
Funds reserved / Submitted	You've done your part. Waiting on the organization and your program.
Paid by program	The organization received the payment.
Void	The invoice was canceled, for example because the only spot on it was canceled.

The booking itself also appears with a status: Scholarship pending until the program pays, then Paid by scholarship. An order paid partly by card and partly by a scholarship shows as two rows.

Cancelling a scholarship spot

Cancel from Calendar like any booking. See Cancelling and refunds.

• If your program hasn't paid yet, the spot comes off the invoice. An invoice with nothing left on it is voided.
• If your program already paid, Famlo can't return that money, because it never held it. You'll see: "Booking cancelled. Your scholarship had already paid for this spot, so any refund is between you and the organizer — Famlo never held that money."

Any money already reserved or paid through your program is between you, the organization and your program, under your program's rules.

Paying by card and claiming it back from Step Up

Some organizations accept Step Up but aren't paid through EMA directly. At those organizations My scholarship pays doesn't appear, so you pay by card and then request reimbursement in EMA. Your confirmation email says: "Using Step Up? [organization] isn't paid through EMA directly, so you paid by card. Your receipt is ready for an EMA reimbursement request", with a link.

Every card payment comes with a receipt PDF for each child, listing only that child's items. It's attached to your confirmation email.

1. Open Family › Payments & invoices and select the booking.
2. Select Receipt (PDF). If you booked for more than one child, there's one per child, such as "Ella's receipt (PDF)".
3. Use the Copy into EMA panel below the details. It appears on card payments to organizations like these, which take Step Up but aren't paid through EMA directly. It lists "The fields Step Up's EMA asks for, in its order": Purchase date, Invoice/Receipt #, Quantity · cost, Tax, shipping, Vendor name and Item URL, each with a copy button.
4. In EMA, start a reimbursement request, paste each field, and upload the receipt PDF.

Finding classes that take Step Up or an ESA

• In search, choose Accepts scholarships, or open Filters and choose Paying with › Takes Step Up or ESA.
• When you're signed in, Discover shows a quick Takes Step Up / ESA chip above the results when something nearby accepts it.

More in Finding activities. These show classes from organizations that accept scholarship funds, including some where you pay by card and claim reimbursement.

Payment requests paid by Step Up

An organization can send you a payment request or invoice that Step Up can pay. When it does, My scholarship pays is offered when you select Review and pay. After you confirm, the card in Messages shows Awaiting Step Up: "Paying $X with Step Up. [organization] is paid when Step Up funds it." See Paying an invoice or payment request.

A year of scholarship spending

For a reviewer or your own records, each child's school record has a Scholarship spending report: "Every invoice a program paid for, itemized." It lists every scholarship invoice line for the year, with totals for Claimed, Paid and Outstanding. Find it from Family › your child › School record. See Your child's school record.

Troubleshooting

The class says it accepts scholarships, but checkout has no My scholarship pays. The organization may accept Step Up without being paid through EMA directly. Pay by card and claim it back with your receipt (see above). Some ticket types also don't take scholarship funds. If you're not sure, message the organization before you book.

My program isn't in the list. The list shows only the programs this organization accepts. Message the organization to ask whether they take yours.

I can't find the organization in EMA. Search for the exact listing name and provider ID shown on your invoice. If it still doesn't show, message the organization.

I marked the invoice by mistake. Open the invoice and select Not submitted yet? Undo.

What's next

• Paying at checkout
• Payments & invoices and your receipts
• Scholarships from an organization
• Homeschool Funding Map