The Bright Futures Scholarship is a scholarship for Florida high school students who will be attending college in the state of Florida. The scholarship is based on the student’s GPA, test scores (ACT/CLT/SAT), and documented service/work hours.
The Bright Futures Scholarship application opens on October 1st of the senior year and closes on August 31st after graduation. It is recommended that students apply before the end of the first semester of their senior year.
The Bright Futures Handbook is the best source of information regarding scholarship types and requirements. Select the handout to open.
All seniors will receive a Bright Futures Early Evaluation from the school counseling office in the fall of senior year. This document indicates current Bright Futures GPA, documented volunteer/work hours, and test scores submitted to a university as well as the preliminary award status for each different scholarship.
Types of scholarships
Florida Academic Scholarship (FAS): 100% paid tuition to a Florida Public University.
Florida Medallion Scholarship (FMS): 75% paid tuition to a Florida Public University.
Bright Futures can be applied to Florida Private Universities, funding the maximum dollar amount that would be covered per credit hour at a Florida Public University. Read the handbook above for details.
The chart below (from the BF Handbook) details:
- Courses counting toward Bright Futures calculated GPA. If a student takes more than the required number of courses, the best semester grades will be counted.
- Bright Futures GPA minimum requirement. Bright Futures awards a .25 weighting to all Honors, AP, AICE, and DE courses.
- College entrance exam score requirement through ACT, SAT, or CLT.
- Volunteer or paid work hour requirements documented in HAC (submitted and approved through the TCHS school counseling office.)
The Gold Seal Vocational Scholarship (GSV)
The Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV) award may be funded if a student is enrolled in a career education or certificate program. Florida high school students who wish to qualify for the GSV award must meet the following initial eligibility requirements:
• Achieve the required weighted minimum 3.0 GPA in the non-elective high school courses.
• Take at least 3 full Career and Technical Education credits On-the-job training may not be substituted for any of the three required career credits.
• Achieve the required minimum 3.5 unweighted GPA in the Career and Technical Education credits.
• Achieve the required minimum score on the ACT®, SAT® or Florida Postsecondary
Education Readiness Test (PERT) exams (see table below)
• Complete 30 volunteer service hours, 100 paid work hours, or a combination of both for 100 total hours.
