The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship is a merit-based financial aid program that has helped over 750,000 students attend a post secondary education. This scholarship is catered towards students who plan to stay in-state to pursue a higher level education. By the end of their senior year, many students here at Seminole become Bright Futures Scholars and reap several academic and financial benefits.
Based on student academic achievement, Bright Futures has several financial aid packages to offer. They are most known for their Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) and Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS) programs. FAS is their most rewarding and competitive program, offering students 100% of their public school tuition with an additional $300 per semester for student spending. FMS comes second best, as it’s less competitive but still very rewarding. This program covers 75% of public school tuition, but it does not offer leverage for student spending. Both of these programs are beneficial to all eligible students as they are not considerate of financial need. This means that household income is not considered and the Bright Futures Scholarship will award either 75% or 100% of public school tuition to all of their scholars.
When it comes to navigating Bright Futures, it can be difficult for students who have only briefly heard about it. This article will dive deeper into its requirements and includes tips on how to become a Bright Futures Scholar.
To be eligible for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, a student must:
- Submit the Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA) no later than August 31 after high school graduation.
For students interested in becoming a Bright Futures Scholar, the FFAA can be filled out at floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/SAPHome. First-time applicants will be required to make an account and fill out the application online.
2. Graduate from a Florida high school with a standard high school diploma or its equivalent.
3. Complete the 16 college-preparatory courses required for admission to a state university.
These requirements are typically a given when attending Seminole. The 16 college-preparatory courses include four english, four math, three science, three social science, and two world language classes.
4. Achieve the required weighted GPA (3.0 FMS, 3.5 FAS) in the 16 college-preparatory courses
A 3.0 weighted GPA is around a 2.5 unweighted GPA and a 3.5 weighted is around a 3.0 unweighted. Obtaining either of these GPAs are definitely doable, and it helps to take honors/AP/IB classes as they are weighed more in the system. Be sure to study for assessment and turn assignments in on time as doing so will help you in the long run.
5. Achieve the required composite ACT® score (25 FMS, 29 FAS), or combined SAT® score (1210 FMS, 1340 FAS) no later than August 31 of the student’s graduation year.
If you are struggling to reach these scores it is important to practice, practice, practice. There are tons of free resources online, my favorite being khanacademy.org. If possible, try investing in a practice book and do as many practice questions as possible until you feel comfortable with the material. There is also SAT math tutoring Mondays 2:30-3:30pm in Health Academy 218.
6. Complete the required number of volunteer service hours, paid work hours, or 100 total combined hours (75 FMS, 100 FAS)
There are plenty of work and volunteer opportunities in the area! Many of our Noles volunteer at Harvest Time International, Orlando Science Center, the Jeff Triplett Center, and more. Do your research as there are lots of organizations looking for volunteers.
Keep in mind there are other scholarships that Bright Futures offers, but these are just the main two. It is important to start thinking about this early, so plan ahead and good luck to all of those who are currently working hard to become a Bright Futures Scholar! You all have the potential to do great.
Sources/Resources: floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/SAPBFMAIN/and floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/PDF/FAS-FMS.pdf