Bright Futures is the name of a scholarship program in the state of Florida. It is funded by the Florida Lottery and was first started in 1997.
The Bright Futures program allows Florida high school seniors with academic merit the chance to earn a scholarship to any public college in the state. This scholarship does not apply if the student chooses to attend college outside the state of Florida. Many private colleges in Florida offer students paid tuition if he or she is a Bright Futures recipient.
A certain SAT score or ACT score is required to earn a Bright Futures scholarship.
There are three types of awards:
* Florida Academic Scholars Award: Full tuition is paid with the qualifying SAT score of 1270 or ACT score of 28, a weighted GPA of at least 3.5, 75 community service hours, and other various requirements.
* Florida Medallion Scholars Award: 75% of tuition costs are paid with the qualifying SAT score of 970 or ACT score of 20, a weighted GPA of at least 3.0, and other various requirements.
* Gold Seal Vocational Scholars Award: 75% of tuition costs are paid with a qualifying score of 440 on both the Critical Reading and Math, a weighted GPA of at least 3.0, and a weighted GPA of a 3.5 in a three credit vocational program.