How To Win a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship With Minimal Effort

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Getting a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship—All You Should Know

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship program is one of the most popular financial aid types in the Sunshine State. It was created for high school graduates with extraordinary achievements who need extra funds for their postsecondary education expenses. To this day, the program has provided financial support to more than 725,000 students in Florida.

If you want to make one of these Florida scholarships yours, you are in the right place! To help you avoid endless search, we created a special guide that can teach you all about:

  • Basic criteria you must meet to be considered for these scholarships
  • Active Florida Bright Futures awards you can apply for
  • Application procedures for the desired scholarship type
  • DoNotPay’s amazing tool that finds appropriate scholarships on your behalf and saves you time and nerves

What Types of Florida Bright Futures Scholarships Are There?

The Bright Futures program includes four scholarships:

  • Florida Academic Scholars Award (FAS)—It’s a program dedicated to the most successful high school graduates with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 and higher. If you apply for this scholarship, you get 100% coverage of your tuition costs and other related expenses
  • Florida Medallion Scholars Award (FMS)—This scholarship requires candidates to have high minimum test scores and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 and higher. The funds you get from this program can cover 75% of your educational costs and other applicable fees
  • Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars Award (GSV)—The award is for high school graduates pursuing a technical degree or certificate program within their postsecondary studies. It can cover up to 72 credit hours for several specified degree programs
  • Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars Award (GSC)—It’s a perfect option for students who want to start a Bachelor of Science/Applied Science degree program and covers up to 72 credit hours for the chosen degree programs

General Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Requirements

Even though each scholarship type is unique and has specific eligibility criteria, there are still some basic requirements you must meet, such as:

  1. Being a Florida resident and:
    1. U.S. citizen
    2. Eligible noncitizen—categories depend on your college’s propositions
  2. Having a Florida public or private high school diploma or an acceptable equivalent
  3. Enrolling in a degree program within an accepted postsecondary institution in Florida for a minimum of six credit hours per term
  4. Not being convicted of felony charges
  5. Submitting a Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA) after your high school graduation, or more precisely, before the last day of August of the current year

Eligibility Criteria for Each Separate Bright Futures Scholarship Type

The following table presents the eligibility requirements for all four categories of Florida Bright Futures scholarships:

Scholarship TypeYou Must
Florida Academic Scholars Award
  • Meet all general requirements
  • Have:
    • Completed high school coursework
    • Minimum proposed ACT or SAT exam score
  • Complete the proposed minimum number of service work hours
  • Achieve one of the following academic recognitions:
    • IB Diploma
    • IB Curriculum
    • AICE Diploma
    • AICE Curriculum
    • National Hispanic Scholars
    • National Merit/National Achievement Finalists and Scholars
Florida Medallion Scholars Award
Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars Award
  • Meet all general requirements
  • Have:
    • At least 30 completed service work hours by your high school graduation
    • Cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 in non-elective courses during your high-school education
    • Cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 in career education courses
    • Required minimum ACT or SAT score
  • Get three full credits in one Career and Technical Education program
Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars Award
  • Meet all general requirements
  • Complete 30 service hours
  • Have five postsecondary credit hours earned through the chosen CAPE industry certification courses

How To Apply for the Desired Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program

Regardless of the award you are looking forward to, you must go through a general application process. The list below contains all the steps you should take to file a successful Florida Bright Futures scholarship request:

  1. Fill out all the required fields in your Florida Financial Aid Application
  2. Prepare your:
    1. High school transcripts
    2. Standardized test scores
    3. Any other required supporting documents for your student group
  3. Provide proof of completed service hours
  4. Submit your application and the required paperwork within the prescribed deadlines—usually from October 1 of the current year to:
    1. January 31 of the next year for early evaluation
    2. August 31 of the next year for the last evaluation round

Writing a scholarship essay or getting a letter of recommendation isn’t necessary in this case. To simplify the application process for the scholarships that don’t require essays, you should and solve the matter in record time.

DoNotPay Helps You Pinpoint Suitable Scholarships and Apply for Them

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We can:

This way, you can look for any financial aid types you are interested in, such as scholarships for women, teachers, veterans, disabled candidates, or international students!

To simplify your search with DoNotPay, proceed as follows:

  1. from any web browser
  2. Choose Apply for Scholarships
  3. Tell us more about:
    1. Your current level of study and grades
    2. Qualifications you possess
    3. Expertise fields you are interested in

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Florida Bright Futures Scholarship — Frequently Asked Questions

How do you qualify for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship (2023-24)?

To qualify for the Florida Bright Futures Academic Scholarship (FAS), students need to meet the following minimum requirements:

  • 3.50 GPA (weighted)
  • ACT: 29 or above OR SAT:1340 or above
  • 100 or more Community Service Hours OR Paid Work Hours
  • Complete the required high school coursework

To qualify for the Florida Bright Futures Medallion Scholarship (FMS), students need to meet the following minimum requirements:

  • 3.00 GPA (weighted)
  • ACT: 25 or above OR SAT: 1210 or above
  • 75 or more Community Service Hours OR Paid Work Hours
  • Complete the required high school coursework

How much does the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship pay?

The Florida Academic Scholarship covers 100% of tuition and applicable fees when attending a public postsecondary institution, including during summer sessions.

Florida Medallion Scholarship covers 75% of tuition and applicable fees when attending a public postsecondary institution. Students enrolled in an associate degree program at a Florida College System after Fall 2021 will receive an award that covers 100% of tuition and applicable fees.

Students attending nonpublic institutions will receive a comparable amount as outlined in the Private Award Chart.

What GPA do you need for a 100% Florida Bright Futures Scholarship?

To qualify for a 100% Florida Bright Futures Scholarship (Academic), you will need a weighted GPA of 3.50 or more.

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