History Of The Bright Futures Program 

The Bright Futures Program is a scholarship program available and unique to Florida residents. The program was created in 1997 and passed by the Florida Legislature. Bright Futures is funded by the Florida Lottery, which has funded over 800,000 students in their endeavor to college and has contributed over $5 billion dollars to those students. 

In order to be eligible for the Scholarship there are some general requirements:

• Be a Florida resident.
• Complete the FFAA no later than August 31 after the students’ high school graduation.
• Earn a standard Florida high school diploma, or equivalent from a school registered within the Florida Department of Education, or a home education program which meets the necessary criterion for eligibility. 

For any scholarship within Bright Futures, Florida high school residents must complete the necessary high school coursework and score within the necessary range during testing, achieve the minimum grade point average throughout their academic career, and complete a certain amount of community service hours. 

I will go more into depth about the requirements and the different Scholarships available within Bright Futures in the section: Requirements By Scholarship Type.

Scholarship Types And Award Amounts 

There are two primary award levels within the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. The first, and most funded, is the Florida Academic Scholars award. The second is the Florida Medallion Scholars award. 

Florida Academic Scholars (FAS)

The Florida Academic Scholar award funds 100% of the tuition fees for the university/college attended by the student. This scholarship also pays for 100% of the applicable fees such as: health fee, athletic fee, activity and service fee, financial aid fee, campus access fee, transportation fee, and the technology fee. 

Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS)

The Florida Medallion Scholar award funds 75% of the tuition fees for the university/college attended by the student. Much like the Florida Academic Scholar award, this award will also cover 75% of applicable fees associated with the university/college. 

Along with the FAS and the FMS there are two additional scholarship opportunities with Bright Futures oriented towards more technical degrees:

Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV)

The Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award is available to those students who wish to receive a professional certification, associate or bachelor degree from a state institution. This award will cover 75% of the tuition and fees if the student is enrolled in a public post-secondary institution.

Gold Seal CAPE Scholars (GSC)

The Gold Seal Cape Scholars award is eligible for those students who wish to attend a post-secondary institution to receive a diploma in applied technology, a technical degree, or any career certificate which has been approved by the Career and Professional Education (CAPE) program. This award will pay up to $48/credit hour of the student’s career education or certificate program tuition. 

Scholarship Length

Students who are recipients of the Florida Academic Scholars and the Florida Medallion Scholars award may receive funding for up to 120 semester hours (this translates to roughly five years, starting from the students graduation from highschool). 

Students who are recipients of the Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award are eligible for a maximum of 90 semester hours.

Students who are recipients of the Gold Seal CAPE Scholars award are eligible for a maximum of 60 semester hours.

Can You Transfer The Scholarship Between Institutions? 

Yes. As long as the school which the transfer would be applicable for is another eligible Florida postsecondary institution. If it is the case that the school is not an eligible institution, a transfer of the scholarship may not be possible and, thus, the student may lose their award.

Eligibility Requirements 

In the section below, you will find the various requirements that would make a Florida student eligible to receive any one of the four scholarships previously listed.

Requirements By Scholarship Type

Florida Academic Scholars (FAS)

Requirements are as follows

• Graduate from an eligible Florida public school or a private school which has been registered by the Florida Department of Education, or have earned a GED, completed a home education program, or graduate from an applicable non-Florida (out-of-state) highschool if certain conditions are met.
• Complete the following highschool credit hours: 4 hours English, 4 hours Mathematics, 3 hours Natural Science, 3 hours Social Science, 2 hours World Language.
• High School Weighted GPA of at least 3.50.
• College entrance exams of the following: ACT (29), CLT (96), SAT (1340).
• 100 hours of volunteer service or 100 hours of paid work hours for a combination of 100 hours volunteer/paid work hours. 
• Submit a FFAA no later than August 31 after highschool graduation.

Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS)

Requirements are as follows

• Graduate from an eligible Florida public school or a private school which has been registered by the Florida Department of Education, or have earned a GED, completed a home education program, or graduate from an applicable non-Florida (out-of-state) highschool if certain conditions are met.
• Complete the following high school credit hours: 4 hours English, 4 hours Mathematics, 3 hours Natural Science, 3 hours Social Science, 2 hours World Language.
• High school Weighted GPA of at least 3.00.
• College entrance exams of the following: ACT (25), CLT (84), SAT (1210).
• 75 hours of volunteer service or 100 hours of paid work hours for a combination of 100 hours of volunteer service/paid work hours.
• Submit a FFAA no later than August 31 after highschool graduation.

Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV)

Requirements are as follows

• Students must be enrolled in a career education or certificate program. 
• Weighted GPA of at least 3.00 in the non-elective high school courses.
• Take at least 3 credits in a single Career and Technical Education program.
• Achieve at least a 3.50 unweighted GPA in career education courses. 
• Earn the following scores on ACT (Reading: 19; English: 17; Mathematics: 19), SAT (Reading: 24; Writing and Language: 25; Math: 24), or PERT (Reading: 106; Writing: 103; Mathematics: 114).
• Students must complete 30 volunteer service hours, 100 paid work hours, or a combination of 100 hours volunteer service/paid work hours.

Gold Seal CAPE Scholars

Requirements are as follows

• Students must be enrolled in a career education or a certificate program. 
• Earn at least 5 postsecondary credit hours through the CAPE program which translates for college credits.
• Complete 30 volunteer service hours, 100 paid work hours or a combination of 100 hours volunteer service/paid work hours.

Non-Traditional Students

Non-traditional students are those students who have completed a home education program. The following will be the requirements that a non-traditional student will need to fulfill in order to be eligible for the Bright Futures scholarships. 

• Home educated students must be registered with the district during the current and prior academic year. If it is the case that the student is not registered with the district, the student may apply as a Florida GED diploma recipient.
• Must fulfill general requirements (see History Of The Bright Futures Program above).
• FFAA submitted no later than August 31st of the graduating year. 
• Earn required minimum test scores on ACT, CLT, or SAT (as is listed under the particular scholarship award desired).
• Complete the minimum number of volunteer service credits necessary for the particular scholarship desired. 
• Home educated students do not need to provide a transcript for any awards offered within the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.

Renewal Requirements 

Can I Renew My Scholarship?

Yes. Those students who are recipients of a Bright Futures Scholarship Award will have their awards renewed through an automatic process at the end of each Spring Semester. 

In order for the automatic process to occur, students need to meet the minimum requirements for credit hours taken and the minimum GPA requirement for the particular award they have. This automatic renewal will continue until the maximum amount of funded credit hours is reached, or if the student finishes earlier than the amount of credit hours given. 

Is It Possible To Reinstate Or Restore My Scholarship?

Yes, however, students who have lost their Bright Futures Scholarship are only eligible for a one-time scholarship restoration for the particular award they lost. In order to do so students must:

• Complete a reinstatement/restoration application on their online OSFA account by the deadline of May 30th (for both the fall and spring semesters). It is recommended by OSFA that reinstatement/restoration applications are submitted by July 1 in order to receive funding for fall courses; and the deadline of December 15th to receive funding for spring courses. 
• Restoration can only occur at the end of  the spring term once the Spring cumulative GPA has been reported. 
• There is also the possibility for appeals to be utilized if the student had some exceptional circumstances which lead to their inability to keep up with the minimum requirements for the scholarship. For more information on appeals click here. 

How Competitive Are The Bright Futures Scholarships? 

Quite competitive. Especially the Florida Academic Scholar award, as this is the award which gives the students the most funding for both tuition costs and applicable fees. Eligibility for each scholarship will be met if students complete the unique requirements (on top of the general requirements) for the scholarship they seek. 

My Experience Applying For Bright Futures

I was eligible for the Florida Medallion Scholars award as I met the necessary requirements for the scholarship and the general requirements. I remember the most difficult aspects of meeting the requirements were the test scores and meeting the necessary volunteer hours requirement. 

Obtaining the test scores was difficult, and I wanted to put my emphasis on the SAT because that was the one I believed I could do the best in. I scored above a 1210 on the SAT, though I think I could have done much better if I had taken my studies and preparation for the test more seriously… If only I had SoFlo Tutors.

I found it hard to make time for the volunteer and paid work hours on top of the course work that was necessary for me to do and the maintenance of the minimum GPA requirement. 

What may not be stressed enough during this process is the need for time management and a good tutor who knows your strengths and weaknesses. These scholarship awards can be a life-changer and can remove you from the potential of being in debt at a college age. If you are able to, I would certainly try your best to achieve it.

Tips To Get A Bright Futures Scholarship

Here are a list of pointers that I wish I had, or took more seriously, when they were given to me: 

• Time Management: There are a lot of requirements that need to be fulfilled in order to be eligible for the awards, and too much focus on one may limit you in meeting the necessary requirement for another. Managing your time appropriately to make yourself a well-rounded candidate will be paramount to your obtaining an award. 
• A Good Tutor (with SoFlo): Getting a good tutor will help in two respects. They can help to prepare you for your exams that must be taken in class as part of the fulfillment of the high school credits obligation, and they can help you prepare for the college placement exams, i.e., SAT, ACT, and CLT. A tutor can help to identify your weaknesses and bolster your strengths. 
• Knowing The Requirements: This may seem intuitive, but knowing the requirements you need to meet will help you to structure your remaining years of highschool in such a way that will enable you to meet them.

Qualify For Bright Futures With SoFlo Tutors!

Are you ready to begin your preparations for meeting the requirements for a Bright Futures Scholarship? Our team of talented tutors here at SoFlo are ready to offer you expert advice and training for you to knock the SAT, ACT, or CLT out of the park. All of our tutors attend high-ranking universities within the United States, and are prepared to help you excel with an individualized success plan.

Our tutors will work with you to identify and improve your weaknesses on particular sections of the SAT, ACT, or CLT to help improve your understanding and comfort with the material to get you a higher score than ever before! Our tutors may also help you to develop a time management plan to ensure that all the requirements for a Bright Futures award are met.

We know your time is valuable, that’s why our tutors work around your schedule whether it be after school, or before, we will find an availability that works for you! Check out our tutoring services here to book a session.

About The Author

Dahlia is a graduate of Florida State University and has a B.S. in both philosophy and psychology. In her free time she enjoys a simple life.