Photo Credit: Maddie Schorr
Changes to Bright Futures make many students wonder if they need to look for other scholarship opportunities.
October 18, 2011
Maddie Schorr, Staff Writer
Florida’s legislature is poised to make cuts and changes to the popular Bright Futures programs. This would raise test score requirements and decrease funding by about 15 percent in an effort to alleviate the state debt.
Cuts to the scholarship will coincide with the increase of state and private tuition. Many students who have counted on this program since it was started in 1997 will now have to look elsewhere to pay for the ever rising college tuition.
Other changes include increasing a student’s minimum volunteer hours needed from 75 to 100, and raising the standardized test score requirements. For example the minimum SAT required for the graduating class of 2012 is 980, but by the year 2014 the minimum will be 1170.
College acceptance is already competitive and now many students wonder if the hard work is even worth it.
“I’m not spending 23 hours a day studying, or going to the Olympics for some sport, but I try my hardest and have been really counting on receiving a bright future scholarship. With these cuts I wonder if it’s [the hard work] worth it.” said junior Saphara Harrell.
For students who may not make the new requirements, there are other scholarships available. Some cater to a specific demographic such as the Jose Marti Scholarship offered to those of Hispanic background. Others can come from the actual college or the federal government in the form of a grant.
However, when digging deep enough, scholarships can be found anywhere. One obscure example is the Florida Library Association who provides scholarships of around $2,000 to students who commit to working in a Florida library for at least one year after graduation.
The cuts and changes to Bright Futures is alarming some students who now fear that their dreams of going to college for free will never be realized but others see this as motivation to work harder and those that truly deserve the scholarship will earn it.
“I’m not too worried about the changes because while the program is slowing disappearing, we [class of 2013] should be ok. The test score minimum isn’t being raised that much and even if I don’t receive as much money as I originally expected to, other scholarships are out there to help supplement the cost.” said junior Kaitlyn Bears.
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November 2nd, 2011 at 6:59 pm
So much has changed in bright futures from years past. For our class it will only cover 5 years, and by the class of 2014, you’ll need a 1140 on the SAT just to get 75%, it’s getting harder for students to get.
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Jessica Kuzio Reply:
December 6th, 2011 at 8:32 pm
Much have changed over the recent years. It’s a lot harder getting into colleges now.
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December 6th, 2011 at 7:22 am
The budget cuts are making it harder for students to get what they deserve. It is already very competitive
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December 6th, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Lot more competition for getting into colleges now.
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December 7th, 2011 at 8:46 pm
I am not a fan of the new changes to Bright futures. I wish they would just keep it the same.
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December 8th, 2011 at 8:35 pm
It’s getting harder for students to get Bright futures. There’s ups and downs.
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December 8th, 2011 at 9:10 pm
I think they should have instituted a family income cap on students applying for Bright Futures funds before increasing the test score requirements and volunteer hours. It looks like their going to do that in the future and that is why they are now requiring the FAFSA but I think they should have started there first.
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December 8th, 2011 at 9:35 pm
Bright futures has changed significantly from when we first were freshman. I know that I thought that bright futures was easy to get, but turns out now that I’m a Senior it is getting harder and harder to get the scholarship. Its quite a shame.
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