Bright Futures, financial aid to increase this year

Florida parents and students got good news last week when Gov. Rick Scott said the top Bright Futures scholarship would cover more college costs. They just wish those increases were promised for more than a year.

The new state budget includes $301 million in extra college aid funding for the 2017-18 school year — money that will provide more needbased aid to students in state colleges and universities and that will boost the top Bright Futures awards.

That means Bright Futures winners will have about $6,000 a year, instead of $3,000, to cover tuition and fees, plus $300 for books each semester and money to cover 2018 summer classes.

“We are thrilled,” said Loree Rogers, a Lake County mother whose 18-year-old son will start at the University of Florida this month, with help from the the top Bright Futures “academic scholars” award.

The boost in funding likely means Rogers’ son, Dylan Krummenacker, who just graduated from Eustis High School, won’t need to get a job and can focus on his engineering classes.

“It’s just going to be a big help,” she said.

But like others, she wishes the increase to Bright Futures, which will affect new college students and those already enrolled, would be guaranteed for four years, not just the year that Scott promised.

On June 14, the governor vetoed a higher education reform bill that would have made bigger Bright Futures scholarships a part of state law and expanded or created other college aid programs.

He struck down the multipronged bill, he said, because he thought it would impede progress at Florida’s 28 state colleges, formerly known as community colleges, which he called a key piece of the state’s educational pipeline.

In his veto message, he praised the sections of the bill that increased Bright Futures and the “many provisions I think would be good for students.”

But in explaining his veto, Scott also noted that the state budget, which he signed, included a oneyear hike to Bright Futures. The budget also adds to the state’s need-based aid programs for the coming year.

Those financial aid programs get $121 million more this year than last, budget documents show, while Bright Futures gets about $180 million more.

Scott said he hoped lawmakers would consider legislation next year that would revisit a Bright Futures expansion and help Florida’s colleges and universities.

The budget also gave more money to the 12-university system while the state college system lost out, he said.

Valencia College, for example, will lose about $1 million, its share of the about $30 million in reductions the college system endured.

The University of Central Florida, on the other hand, will have about $24 million in new money, funds it will use to hire faculty and boost programs.

UCF said the increase to the Florida Student Assistance Grants should mean more students will get the need-based awards, typically worth $1,200, but it does not have exact numbers yet.

Fabienne Dorvilus, 22, a UCF senior, said students would appreciate the extra help.

“Even with the aid that I did get, I was paying out of pocket because these classes are expensive,” she said.

Gavin Lorenzo, 19, said he’d like to see the Bright Futures money available to more students.

He said he fell one point shy of the score he needed on the ACT to be eligible for any Bright Futures scholarship.

“The requirements are a bit strict,” said the UCF sophomore. “It’s not offered to as many people as it should be because of how strict the requirements are.”

Bright Futures was created in 1997, with the goal of rewarding high school achievement and keeping top students in state.

It quickly became popular with Florida families, as the top award covered all tuition and fees at state colleges and universities.

But the program also became expensive, as more students qualified, and the subject of debate as some questioned why Florida should spend millions on scholarships for students whose families could afford college anyway or for students who earned mostly Bs in high school.

The second-tier of the scholarship requires a weighted 3.0 grade-point average.

In 2011, with the state economy struggling, Florida lawmakers made it tougher to earn the scholarships, which are based on students’ high school grade-point averages, their scores on the ACT or SAT and community service. That year, they also slashed funding for the program, making each award worth less.

A little more than 100,000 students had Bright Futures scholarships for the 2016-17 school year, well off the high of 179,000 students five years earlier.

In the coming year, those who earned the top award — which requires a weighted GPA of 3.5, SAT scores of 1290 or ACT scores of 29 and 100 hours of community serve — will again cover full tuition and fees, Scott said. About 41,000 Florida students had that scholarship this past academic year.

“It’s huge. It would be amazing boon to Florida students for sure,” said Denise Winterstein, a guidance counselor at Lake Brantley High School in Seminole County.

Giselle San Filippo, 18, who just graduated from Winter Springs High School and will attend UF in the fall, agreed.

“Bright Futures is one of the main reasons I chose to stay in Florida,” she said. “I want to be able to graduate college debt free.”

The scholarship made that goal more doable and in-state schools more attractive. If the award would cover all of her tuition and fees for four years in Gainesville, she said, “That would be incredible.”