Senate OKs Bright Futures expansion

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Senate on Thursday voted unanimously to permanently expand Bright Futures merit scholarships for some 94,000 students.

The legislation (SB 4) revives a higher-education initiative, known as the “Florida Excellence in Higher Education Act,” that was vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott last year when he objected to its impact on the state college system.

Most of the changes occurred in the current academic year despite Scott’s veto, including some of the scholarship expansions. But the new bill would make those changes permanent and expand them.

“The bill we passed today really transforms our commitment to higher education,” said Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart.

Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, who sponsored the bill, said the initiative was aimed at expanding financial aid, increasing the quality of the system and providing more accountability measures, including holding the schools to a four-year graduation rate.

Galvano said the overall aim was to bring the quality of the universities more in line with Florida’s ranking as the third-largest state.

The bill will cover 100 percent of the tuition and fees for some 50,000 top-performing Bright Futures students, who are known as “academic scholars.” .

Another 44,000 students, known as “medallion” scholars, will see their Bright Futures scholarships increase from current coverage of roughly 50 percent of the cost of tuition and fees to 75 percent.