Broadening bright futures

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Broadening bright futures

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program has now expanded its qualifications to accept students’ paid work

BY DIVYA DAVE, STAFF WRITER

ON JUNE 27, 2022, GOV. RON DeSantis signed House Bill (HB) 461 bill into law, allowing high school students to use hours from paid work in place of community service in order to qualify for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship. This expansion will apply to the graduating class of 2023 and those after.

Established in 1997, Florida Bright Futures is a program pertaining only to Florida high school students. Bright Futures allows them to earn merit-based scholarships to the state’s public universities. The program is sponsored by the Florida Lottery and helps students pay tuition, as stated on Gov. De Santis’ official website.

There are several scholarship levels students can qualify for within Bright Futures, each with its own requirements. The most rigorous level is Florida Academic Scholars, which pays for 100% of a student’s college tuition as well as associated fees.

Currently, students must be able to maintain a minimum of a 3.5 GPA, earn a 29 on the ACT or 1330 on the SAT and complete at least 100 service hours to qualify, as stated by PrepScholar. This new law expands upon requirements for students by allowing them to submit paid work instead of volunteer hours, regardless of scholarship level. During the 2021-2022 school year the state of Florida gave about $650 million to about 120,000 students, as mentioned by the Orlando Sentinel.

“Students want to have their own money, so they want to get a job. It makes sense to use that to their benefit when considering the financial burdens of attending university,” senior Sofia Bronstein said.

Since many students with jobs struggle to balance the demands of both school and work, having to complete a certain number of community service hours was just another thing they had to worry about. Now, they havemore access and opportunities to apply to and attend a public college in Florida.

“[HB 461] will benefit me by allowing me to not have to do as many community service hours for a scholarship, when I’m already working a job almost every single day,” sophomore Lucas Nuñez said.

The law will particularly benefit working students from low-income backgrounds. Many of them work to support their families and may not have the chance to pursue higher education without a scholarship due to the financial burdens associated with it. Due to this amendment, they can use the hours they have worked towards earning a scholarship and more students from low-income backgrounds will be able to pursue higher education.

“[Working students from low-income families] should not be denied the opportunity to qualify for a scholarship just because their socioeconomic background makes it more difficult to be able to do this type of volunteer work,” DeSantis said at the bill signing on June 27.

This new law also removed the previously required civics qualification — where students had to create a plan for personal involvement in learning about where they live or addressing a particular issue and then to reflect and look back upon the experience. This is no longer a requirement, though students may still complete it, according to the Florida Phoenix.

“Most jobs, no matter the pay, teach students important life lessons they can take with them to college and beyond,” College Assistance Program counselor Sofia Sanz de Acedo said.

Overall, this bill turned law will allow more working students who may not have the time and ability to complete community service hours a chance at higher education. h

students speak up

"MANY NEED TO FINANCIALLY SUPPORT THEIR FAMILY AND DON’T HAVE ENOUGH EXTRA TIME TO GET SERVICE HOURS," Mia Aguilar, Junior

Courtesy of Mia Aguilar

"THIS IS GREAT BECAUSE IT ALLOWS THOSE WITHOUT TIME TO GET COMMUNITY SERVICE TO FULFILL THE QUOTA," Talah Pharaon, Sophomore

Nathalie Schwart/ highlights