Bright Futures Scholarship Program

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Bright Futures is the name of a scholarship program in the state of Florida. It is funded by the Florida Lottery and was first started in 1997.

For the New Zealand Government scholarship program of the same name, see New Zealand Bright Futures website

[edit] Program

The Bright Futures program allows Florida high school seniors with academic merit the chance to earn a scholarship to any public college in the state. This scholarship does not apply if the student chooses to attend college outside the state of Florida. Many private colleges in Florida offer students paid tuition if he or she is a Bright Futures recipient.

A certain SAT score or ACT score is required to earn a Bright Futures scholarship.

A score of 1270 on the SAT or a score of 28 on the ACT to get 100% of a student's tuition paid.

Summer semesters are currently not eligible for bright futures funding.

[edit] Types of awards

There are three types of awards:

Florida Academic Scholars Award: Full tuition is paid with the qualifying SAT score of 1270 or ACT score of 28, a weighted GPA of at least 3.5, 75 community service hours, and other various requirements.

Florida Medallion Scholars Award: 75% of tuition costs are paid with the qualifying SAT score of 970 or ACT score of 20, a weighted GPA of at least 3.0, and other various requirements. (100% of tuition, labs and books are paid for qualified community colleges).The Florida Medallion Scholars Award now pays an amount equal to 100% of tuition and fees for college credit courses leading to an associate degree (including lab fees up to $300 per semester).

Gold Seal Vocational Scholars Award: 75% of tuition costs are paid with a qualifying score of 440 on both the Critical Reading and Math, a weighted GPA of at least 3.0, and a weighted GPA of a 3.5 in a three credit vocational program.

This is a table showing the requirements for each award and other information about the award:

Scholarship	Requirements	Amount of Award	Amount of Credits	Time Limit	Renewability
Gold Seal Vocational Scholars Award	3.0 weighted GPA^[1] in the 15 credits required for graduation and a 3.5 unweighted GPA in a 3 credit vocational program. SAT: 440 Math and 440 Critical Reading ACT: Reading - 18, English - 17, and Math - 19 FCELPT: Reading - 83, SS - 83, and Algebra - 72	75% of tuition and fees	Up to 45 credit hours/year§	Must enroll within 3 years of graduation for up to 90 credit hours (2 years)***	College GPA of 2.75
Florida Medallion Scholars Award	3.0 weighted GPA^[2] in the 15 college preparatory credits identified by the Florida Board of Regents as minimum entrance requirements SAT: 970 combined** ACT: Composite score of 20	75% of tuition and fees	Up to 45 credit hours/year§	Must enroll within 3 years of graduation for up to 132 credit hours (4 years)	College GPA of 2.75
Florida Academic Scholars Award	3.5 weighted GPA^[3] in the 15 college preparatory credits identified by the Florida Board of Regents as minimum entrance requirements SAT: 1270 combined** ACT: Composite score of 28 75 hours of community service	100% of tuition and fees + $225/year	Up to 45 credit hours/year§	Must enroll within 3 years of graduation for up to 132 credit hours (4 years)	College GPA of 3.00 If GPA is 2.75-2.99, the award goes down to Florida Medallion Scholars Award

§ = Amount reflects the cost of a Florida public institution. If attending a private institution in Florida, the amount is comparable to the public institution.
** = Combined score means only the Critical Reading and Math sections added up. The Writing section is not being looked at as of right now.
*** = The scholarship may transfer to the Florida Medallion Scholars Award for the remaining 2 years if the college GPA has been maintained at 2.75.

^
1. The GPA used to calculate for Bright Futures eligibility is not the same as what a high school student might have for his or her current GPA. The GPA is calculated by just using the "core classes" which are the classes that are required for graduation. For the state of Florida, the requirement for high school graduation are:

4 credits of English
3 credits of Math (Algebra I and above)
3 credits of Science
1 credit of American History
1 credit of World History
1 credit of Practical/Performing Arts
.5 credit of American Government
.5 credit of Economics
.5 credit of Personal Fitness
.5 credit of Physical Education Elective
.5 credit of Health / Life Management Skills

^
2. Just like the Gold Seal Vocational Scholars Award, the high school GPA is calculated by "core classes" but the core classes are different from the Gold Seal Vocational Scholars Award. This is the curriculum which the GPA is calculated from: