HOW ARE BMEP FUNDS GENERATED? BMEP funds are based on the bilingual education cost differential in the funding formula generated by each district. The bilingual education units are largely determined by the full-time equivalent (FTE) factor, which is driven by the reported student membership across program intensity (number of hours). The student membership counts reported to the Student-Teacher Accountability Reporting System (STARS) at the 80th and 120th day from the previous year are averaged. The average of the FTE is multiplied by the bilingual education program factor (which is 0.5) and the unit value, which may change annually. In 2015-2016, the final unit value was $4,037.75. The approximate amount of funding for a BMEP student is: 1 BMEP Hour~$341 Cost Differential 2 Hours~$667 3 Hours~$1,001 Note: The funding amount generated depends on program intensity (number of hours) and not on the BMEP model or home or heritage language of instruction.