The Bright Futures Scholarship Program is run by the Florida Department of Education. It was created by the Florida Legislature in 1997 and is funded by the Florida Lottery. The Bright Futures Scholarship Program consists of three different levels of awards: the Florida Academic Scholars (FAS), the Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS), and the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV). Every award program has its own set of eligibility criteria and requirements that an applicant must meet.
The Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) Award covers public college or university tuition in full and the recipient also receives $300 every semester to be used for additional college expenses, including books, housing and meal cards. The Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS) Award covers 75 percent of the public college or university tuition and the entire tuition if it's a community college. The Gold Seal Vocational (GSV) Award covers 75 percent of the tuition expense for a public college or university or vocational program.
Candidates must meet specific criteria for each award. To be eligible for the FAS, a candidate must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 and score at least a 1270 on the SAT or 28 on the ACT; additionally, the student has to meet core class requirements and complete 75 hours of approved community service. The FMS requires a candidate to have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and score at least a 970 on the SAT or 20 on the ACT in addition to meeting core class requirements. Students seeking to obtain the FAS and FMS must fulfill both a foreign language and additional science requirement.
Students pursuing the GSV award must have a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 and a 3.5 GPA in at least three vocational class credits. Additionally, they must obtain a minimum score of 440 in both parts of the SAT.
Each of the different scholarships is renewable every year as long as the recipient completes the designated number of credit hours and maintains the required GPA. If a student fails to meet the GPA requirements he may still apply to have the scholarship "restored." However, if the student loses his scholarship because he failed to accumulate the mandatory credit hours, he may not have the scholarship restored.
In order to apply for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program a student must be a Florida resident and a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen. Applicants cannot have any outstanding loans or grants from the state or federal government, and can access and apply for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship by going to the Florida Student Financial Aid website (see Resources below). This must be done during the student's senior year and can be started in the beginning of December.