A few weeks ago, Florida Senate Republican Dennis Baxley filed a new bill that would redesign Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship Program. SB. 86 suggests changes to one of Florida’s most well-known college scholarships.
The original bill guaranteed coverage to eligible students only for their first 60 hours of college. After that, if their degree was not on a list approved by the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) as a program that leads directly to employment following graduation, their scholarship could be in jeopardy. The bill also made provisions for using Bright Futures funding for graduate school, as well as for creating two more grant programs targeted at students seeking associate degrees and certification programs instead of traditional bachelor’s degrees from four-year universities. However, the main focus of backlash has to do with the BOG-created list of approved majors which, according to Baxley, would be updated annually for accuracy.
This is a departure from the bill’s current requirements. The scholarship program, first established in 1997, was created to retain accomplished Florida high school students. Bright Futures pulls its funding from the Florida Lottery. Eligibility for the scholarship can vary from year to year but generally focuses on threshold requirements for high school seniors’ GPAs, SAT/ACT scores and number of community service hours.
As of the 2020-2021 school year, the program offered three different scholarships to rising college freshmen. These include the Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) and the Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS) award, as well as the Gold Seal Vocation Scholars Award (GSV). The GSV award exists for students enrolled in career education and certification programs, while the FAS and FMS awards are designed for students entering public Florida universities.
After the announcement of Senator Baxley’s bill, college students around the state spoke out against the potential law. A website dedicated to providing information and updates on the bill came to fruition, as well as a petition calling for the bill to be terminated. So far, the petition has amassed over 130,000 signatures. On March 16, at least 70 speakers travelled to Florida State’s Civic Center in Tallahassee to share their thoughts on the bill with the Senate Education Committee.
Bailey Bouk, a first-year political science major attending Florida State University, felt it important that she attend the public forum.
“Even though it might not affect me, it’s important to me because it affects my sister and everyone younger than us who is preparing for college with this idea that they can rely on the state for funding based on the hard work they’ve put in,” said Bouk.
For many Florida students, the scholarship is a motivator to stay in-state for university. Many students echoed this at the hearing – that Bright Futures is a part of what makes the Florida higher education system what it is.
“Having lived in this state my whole life, I want to see it succeed,” said Bouk. “I want to see Florida continue to be at the top in higher education. The same degrees they’re trying to put limits on are a part of what makes our state so great.”
On March 16, the bill passed through the Senate Education Committee. Since then, however, the legislation has been slightly modified. It still calls for the creation of a list from the BOG of majors most likely to lead to employment, but the list would now serve as an advisory one. It wouldn’t determine whether or not a student received college funding. The original bill also limited funding to students depending on how much AP, Dual Enrollment, AICE or IB credit they earned in high school. This new revision eliminates that section.
“We think that this will reward those people who are on task and that are looking for the best career options for their families and will expand their knowledge base,” Baxley said.
The bill recently passed in the Senate Appropriations Committee. If it passes through all the necessary Senate committees, the next step will be a debate on the Florida Senate floor.
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