Florida Bright Futures Scholarship

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship program has been around since 1989 when it was known as the Florida Undergraduate Scholars' Fund.

Today, the scholarship program is open to all high school seniors in the state of Florida who maintain a certain GPA, and receive certain ACT and SAT scores before their highschool graduation. In 1997 the name "Florida Bright Futures" was adopted for the scholarship program, and the Undergraduate Scholars' Fund became the Academic Scholars award.

Today the Bright Futures scholarship will pay for 75% or 100% of public college tuition cost in-state. The amount of the award depends on the student's exact grade average, SAT scores, ACT scores, and the specific classes he or she has taken during the high school years. If you want to see exact eligibility requirements, check out this fact-sheet on Florida bright futures scholarship.

Despite cuts in the Florida education budget, the legislatures have assured the voters and media that Bright Futures will be safe for at least another year of Florida high school graduates. One problem from a budgetary perspective is that raising tuition also requires them to raise the amount set-aside for this merit-based scholarship program. As long as the students do well and follow the course guidelines, they will receive the scholarship until the law changes.

Unfortunately, if the program were to be discontinued, it would be a big problem for current high schoolers who have been working toward the specific steps and goals required.

One proposal to save costs and keep the scholarship at the same time was to reduce the amount paid to the less in-demand majors like liberal arts. Students studying science, medicine, and technology would have gotten a small increase while students in other majors would have faced a slightly larger decrease. This plan didn't get much support, but it may become necessary for discussion later in the year or next year as the issue of falling property taxes and budget deficits gets worse.