Are You Aware Of The Changes To Bright Futures Scholarships?

Background

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program was created in 1997 in an effort to keep the best and brightest Florida high school graduates in the state by offering scholarships for postsecondary education in Florida.

The Florida Legislature created the program to reward students for their academic achievements during high school.

The merit-based program offers three levels of scholarship awards with different eligibility requirements.

Florida Academic Scholars (FAS)
Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS)
Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV)

More than 1.5 million Bright Futures awards have been disbursed since the start of the program, totaling more than $3.2 billion.

New Eligibility Requirements

Students are now required to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

State Senators say the new FAFSA requirement is meant to collect financial data on the student recipients and their families. They say it is not an effort to move the program to a need-based scholarship.

Students must now also complete the following community service hours:

FAS – 100 hours
FMS – 75 hours
GSV – 30 hours

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July 2, 2015

Algebra Isn’t Enough: Make Precalculus A Bright Futures Requirement

While Florida’s Bright Futures scholarships no longer pay the entire tuition bill at the state’s public universities as they once did, they are still a valuable source of financial support for thousands of students. Recent increases in the minimum scores on SAT and ACT college entrance exams required for Bright Futures eligibility have sparked some […]

October 27, 2014

What A Second Term Of Rick Scott Or Charlie Crist Will Mean For Florida Education

Polls show Governor Rick Scott and former Governor Charlie Crist are polarizing. Voters are as likely to dislike the candidates as they are to approve of them. So both candidates are talking about schools, colleges and scholarships — to motivate their supporters. “Education is an issue that is helping to appeal to the base,” says […]

September 17, 2014

State Universities Want $45 Million To Offset Bright Futures Changes

State university leaders want to add $45 million in needs-based financial aid to help make up for changes to the Bright Futures scholarship program. Those new, higher qualifications will eliminate more than $250 million a year in college aid by 2018. The State University System Board of Governors will discuss the proposal today. UPDATE: The […]

September 15, 2014

Lawmaker Says Financial Aid Could Depend On Classes, Not Just Test Scores

A key Senate lawmaker may put less emphasis on test scores to determine which students qualify for state financial aid for college — possibly including Bright Futures. Instead, scholarships and grants would depend more on taking tougher classes in high school. Senator John Legg, R-Trinity, said he and other lawmakers have heard complaints and concerns […]

New Bright Futures Rules Changing College Plans For Florida Students

Most new Palm Beach College Students were going through orientation earlier this month, but Jake Seiler was wrapping up his first three courses. Despite earning the highest SAT scores of his two siblings — 1100, on six attempts — Seiler didn’t score high enough this year to earn the Bright Futures Florida Medallion scholarship his […]

April 9, 2014

Half As Many Students Will Meet Tougher Bright Futures Scholarship Requirements

About half as many students will qualify for Bright Futures scholarships when the school year begins this fall as did during the current year, according to new estimates from the Florida College Access Network. That’s because lawmakers have steadily increased requirements for the primarily lottery-funded scholarships, raising minimum scores required on the SAT and ACT […]

September 16, 2013

What’s In The Florida Department of Education’s Budget Request

The Florida Department of Education wants to spend an additional $126.77 per student and $40 million on school technology, according to the agency’s preliminary budget request. The draft budget is one item on a busy State Board of Education agenda tomorrow. The board will also discuss what’s next in hiring a new education commissioner and […]

April 1, 2013

More Than Half of Black and Hispanic Students Will No Longer Qualify For Bright Futures Scholarships

More than half of Florida’s Hispanic and black students at state universities currently eligible for the state’s Bright Futures college scholarship would no longer qualify when new standards take effect on July 1, according to a University of South Florida analysis obtained by the Florida College Access Network. By comparison, about 40 percent of white […]

March 12, 2013

Bright Futures Scholarships May Soon Require Less Paperwork

With no discussion or fanfare, the Senate Education Committee has approved a bill that would remove a small piece of red tape for students who want to receive Bright Futures scholarships. Under the bill, SB 680, students would not be required to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA requirement went […]

January 18, 2013

Government Watchdog Recommends Tougher Bright Futures Requirements

Bright Futures money is being targeted again, this time by a government watchdog group that says the state should raise requirements for the merit-based scholarship program. The lottery revenues which fund the scholarships aren’t stretching as far as they used to. Lawmakers made changes to the Bright Futures program in recent years, as more college […]