Bright Futures Requirements: SAT, ACT, GPA – 2024
January 31, 2024
As you begin your college search, the financial realities might come into sharper relief—leading to a particular interest in colleges that offer full-ride scholarships or opportunities for merit aid. If you happen to be a Florida resident, the Bright Futures Scholarship Program, funded by the state of Florida (by the lottery, specifically), provides a fantastic opportunity to receive scholarships based on high school academic achievement. The program is competitive, though, with only 20% of Florida high school graduates deemed eligible in 2022-2023. In this article, we’ll reveal everything you need to know about the Florida Bright Futures scholarship requirements.
It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the program and its requirements in advance of your senior year to improve your chances. Remember that requirements and deadlines can change with each legislative session, so be sure to consult the most up-to-date Bright Futures handbook.
The Bright Futures program has four different award levels, each with its own eligibility criteria and award amounts. Due to the scope of the program, It can be overwhelming even to determine eligibility, much less apply! Here we provide more information about the program, the different award levels, and the requirements. If you are interested in Bright Futures, there are ways of improving your chances by raising your GPA, preparing adequately for standardized tests, and attaining your required number of service hours (discussed below) well in advance of application deadlines, but do not wait until the last minute!
General Requirements for All Bright Futures Programs
In order to qualify for any Bright Futures scholarship, you must:
- Be a Florida resident, and a US citizen or eligible noncitizen.
- Earn a standard Florida high school diploma, or its equivalent, from a Florida public high school or a registered Florida Department of Education (FDOE) private high school; or complete a home education program. Note that if you are a Florida resident who attended high school out-of-state, you can still earn a Bright Futures scholarship if your parents were under a military or public service obligation that caused them to move temporarily out-of-state.
Florida Bright Futures Requirements (Continued)
- Be accepted by, and enroll in a degree or certificate program at an eligible Florida public or independent post-secondary institution for at least six for at least six non-remedial semester credit hours per semester.
- Complete the Florida Financial Aid Application before August 31 of your high school graduation year. Note that students are not required to submit a FAFSA in order to be eligible for Bright Futures. They are, however, encouraged to submit a FAFSA to learn of potential eligibility for additional state and federal aid.
- Not have been found guilty of, or pleaded no contest to, a felony charge, unless you have been granted clemency by the Governor and Cabinet sitting as the Executive Office of Clemency.
All Bright Futures scholarships except the GSC also have minimum GPA and ACT/SAT requirements. You’ll only need to submit scores from one standardized test—you don’t need to meet score requirements for both the SAT and the ACT. You can use superscores when determining your Bright Futures eligibility, meaning that you can take the highest section scores from each time you take the ACT or SAT in order to create the highest possible cumulative score for one exam type.
Florida Bright Futures Requirements (Continued)
Meanwhile, all programs have service hour requirements. Note that eligible volunteer service or paid work may include: a business or governmental internship, work for a nonprofit community service organization, or activities on behalf of a candidate for public office. The hours of volunteer service or paid work must be documented in writing, and the document must be signed by the student, the student’s parent or guardian, and a representative of the organization for which the student performed the volunteer service or paid work. Do not try to fit in all service hours in the few months before high school graduation!
Bright Futures Programs
Once you’ve determined that you meet the general Bright Futures requirements, the next step is to determine which of the four programs is the right fit for you.
Florida Academic Scholars (FAS)
- Provides 100% of funding for a public program of study, including all tuition and applicable fees. Applicable fees include: activity and service fees, health fees, athletic fees, financial aid fees, capital improvement fees, campus access/transportation fees, technology fees, and tuition differential fees.
- Awardees who opt for a private institution will receive a comparable award, but it may not cover the entire cost.
- Awardees also receive $300 per semester for additional educational expenses.
- Summer terms are eligible for funding; eligible institutions determine whether study abroad is covered by Bright Futures. This is the most competitive Bright Futures scholarship and has the highest requirements. $395,136,918 in funding was disbursed during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS)
- Provides 75% of funding for a public program of study, including all tuition and applicable fees. Applicable fees include: activity and service fees, health fees, athletic fees, financial aid fees, capital improvement fees, campus access/transportation fees, technology fees, and tuition differential fees.
- Awardees who opt for a private institution will receive a comparable award, but it may not cover the entire 75%.
- Summer terms are eligible for funding; eligible institutions determine whether study abroad is covered by Bright Futures.
- This program is slightly less competitive than the Florida Academic Scholars program. $202,626,013 in funding was disbursed during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Bright Futures Requirements (Continued)
Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars (GSC)
- This program is designed for students who already received an Associate’s Degree and are seeking a Bachelor’s.
- Provides funding for up to 60 credit hours of an eligible degree program.
- This program is less competitive than Florida Academic Scholars and Florida Medallion Scholars, and the requirements are more minimal. $239,391 in funding was disbursed during the 2022-2023 school year.
Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV)
- Program is designed for students who are pursuing a certificate or vocational degree.
- Provides funding for up to 72 credit hours of a technical degree program or career certificate program or for up to 60 credit hours of an applied technology degree program.
- This program is the least competitive Bright Futures scholarship, and provides the least amount of funding per award. $466,636 in funding was disbursed during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Specific Program Requirements: Florida Academic Scholars and Florida Medallion Scholars
Florida Academic Scholars
- Minimum 3.5 weighted GPA
- Minimum score of 29 on the ACT or 1330 on the SAT
- At least 100 volunteer service or paid work hours (or a combination)
- Completion of required high school coursework. These requirements align with the state university system admission requirements. Refer to the Bright Futures Course Table for specific information
Florida Medallion Scholars
- Minimum 3.0 weighted GPA
- Minimum score of 25 on the ACT or 1210 on the SAT
- At least 75 volunteer service or paid work hours (or a combination)
- Completion required high school coursework. These requirements align with the state university system admission requirements. Refer to the Bright Futures Course Table for specific information
* What if you don’t meet some of these requirements? Good news! You may still be eligible for either the Florida Academic Scholars or Florida Medallion Scholars program. If you have demonstrated academic merit through one of the following recognition programs, you may be exempt from one or more of the requirements:
- National Merit Finalist and Scholars
- National Hispanic Scholars
- Advanced International Certificate of Education
- International Baccalaureate Diploma
Specific Program Requirements: Florida Gold Seal CAPE and Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars
Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars
- Earn a minimum of five postsecondary credit hours through CAPE industry certifications (that count towards college credit)
- Completion of at least 30 volunteer service hours, 100 paid work hours, or the combination of 100 total hours
- No minimum test scores
Bright Futures Requirements (Continued)
Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars
- Minimum weighted 3.0 GPA in non-elective high school courses
- Enrolled in at least 3 credits in a single Career and Technical Education program
- Achieve a minimum 3.5 unweighted GPA in career education courses
- Completion of at least 30 volunteer service hours, 100 paid work hours, or the combination of 100 total hours
- Minimum section-specific scores on the ACT, SAT, or PERT (GSV only):
Florida Bright Futures Requirements (Continued)
ACT
- Reading: 19
- English: 17
- Mathematics: 19
SAT
- Reading and Writing: 490
- Mathematics: 480
PERT (Postsecondary Education Readiness Test)
- Reading: 106
- Writing: 103
- Mathematics: 114
Bright Futures Deferrals, Renewals, and Transfers
Deferrals
If awarded a Bright Futures scholarship, you can defer in order to engage in a military, religious, or service obligation that lasts longer than 18 months.
Renewals
Students do not receive funds directly from the Florida Department of Education. Instead, Bright Futures awards are calculated and disbursed by the financial aid office at the eligible Florida postsecondary institution attended by the student. Once the scholarship funds are disbursed, the Bright Futures Scholarship will renew automatically each year (up to the scholarship limit) for up to 5 years if the student maintains renewal requirements. Renewal requirements vary based on scholarship type, but typically include minimum enrollment and GPA requirements.
Transfers
Students may transfer their scholarship to another eligible Florida postsecondary institution, though transferring from one institution to another can affect the award (particularly if transferring from a public institution to a private institution).
Overall, the Bright Futures Scholarship Program offers Florida high school students an incredible opportunity to get all or much of their post-high school education paid for—by lottery proceeds no less! You can use Bright Futures scholarships at a wide range of Florida institutions. These include the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of Miami, Palm Beach State College, and the Florida Institute of Technology.
Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Requirements – Additional Resources
We hope you found this article to be helpful to your college search process. Please check out the following relevant blog posts as well:
