Bright Futures Scholarship Program

Scholarship Sponsored by Florida Department of Education

Once the Bright Futures Scholarship has been granted, it will automatically renew each year (subject to the scholarship limit) as long as the student continues to meet the renewal criteria. There is no need to submit an annual FFAA to maintain the scholarship.

Basic Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be Florida residents and either U.S. citizens or eligible noncitizens, as verified by their chosen postsecondary institution.
• The FFAA must be completed by August 31 following graduation from high school.
• Applicants must have a standard Florida high school diploma or its equivalent, obtained from a Florida public high school or a registered private high school under the Florida Department of Education (FDOE), or have completed a home education program.
• Applicants must not have been convicted of, or entered a no contest plea to, a felony charge, unless they have received clemency from the Governor and Cabinet acting as the Executive Office of Clemency.
• Applicants must be accepted into, and enrolled in, a degree or certificate program at an eligible Florida public or independent postsecondary institution.
• Applicants must be enrolled for a minimum of six non-remedial semester credit hours (or the equivalent in quarter or clock hours) per term.
• If the scholarship is not claimed in the academic year immediately following high school graduation, applicants have up to five years from graduation to apply for reinstatement of the award.

For more details on the reinstatement process, please refer to the ‘Reinstatement Requirements’ section in Chapter 3.

For information on deferring the scholarship for students who join the military or undertake a full-time religious or service obligation after graduation, please refer to the ‘Deferment of the Scholarship’ section at the end of this chapter.

Florida high school students aiming to qualify for the Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) award or the Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS) award must meet the following initial eligibility criteria:

• Graduate from a Florida public high school with a standard Florida high school diploma, graduate from a registered Florida Department of Education private high school, earn a GED, complete a home education program, or graduate from a non-Florida high school under specific conditions (refer to the Out-of-State (OOS) guide for more details);
• Complete the necessary high school coursework;
• Achieve the required minimum high school grade point average (GPA);
• Achieve the required minimum score on the ACT, CLT or SAT college entrance exam. These tests are accepted through August 31 of the high school graduation year;
• Complete the required number of volunteer service hours, paid work hours, or a combination of both, totaling 100 hours; and
• Submit an FFAA no later than August 31 following high school graduation.