Bright Futures Scholarship

Overview

What is the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program? The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program is funded by the Florida Lottery. The program rewards students for their academic achievements during high school by offering funding for the pursuit of postsecondary educational and career goals in Florida.

Santa Fe College participates in the Bright Futures Florida Academic scholarship, Medallion scholarship, Gold Seal Cape scholarship, and Gold Seal Vocational scholarship.

How do I apply for a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship?

Eligibility and application criteria are available from your high school guidance counselor, or the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program website.

You must apply for the scholarship by submitting the Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA) online to the Florida Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA).

• You must submit the application by August 31st following high school graduation. If you do not apply for the scholarship by the deadline you may not receive the scholarship.
• Generally, all eligibility requirements must be met by the time of high school graduation, but ACT/SAT test scores taken through June 30th are accepted for eligibility purposes.
• When completing the application you will need to add Santa Fe College's school code (012) in order for the Financial Aid Office to receive your scholarship information.
• Please verify your legal name and Social Security Number before submitting the application. Inaccuracies will delay your scholarship award.

What are the eligibility requirements for a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship?

To be initially eligible for a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship (and for your awards to show on your account), you must:

• Have a Social Security Number that matches between Santa Fe College and OSFA.
• Complete the Florida Residency process at Santa Fe College.
• Be a degree seeking student, enrolled in a program that is eligible for your type of Bright Futures scholarship.
  • Associate in Arts (A.A.) Degrees: The Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars program and Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars program will not fund A.A. programs.
  • Baccalaureate (B.A.S) Degrees: The Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars program does not fund B.A.S. degrees. For the Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars program, to get funding for a Baccalaureate Degree, you must complete an Associate in Science that articulates to a Bachelor of Science OR Bachelor of Applied Science.
  • If you have graduated from your program and not fully admitted into another program, you are not degree-seeking and no longer eligible for the scholarship.
  • Prerequisites are not covered when you are not admitted into a program of study.

• Be enrolled in at least 6 credit-hours of college-level (non-developmental education) coursework.
• Meet certain academic requirements.
• Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen.
• Have not previously received a bachelor's degree.
• Not owe a repayment or be in default under any state or federal grant or loan program.
• Earn all credits paid by your Bright Futures scholarship.
  
  • Credits paid must equal credits earned.
  • If you drop, withdraw from, retake, fail, or otherwise do not earn credit for classes, be prepared to repay for those courses by the deadline.
  • If you took courses at another school (transfer or transient), you must have all transcripts sent to SF with enough time for evaluation and reporting to the State for your eligibility to be determined.
• Meet all applicable deadlines so that the scholarship can be processed.
  • Per state rules, there are processing and compliance deadlines. If your scholarship eligibility is determined beyond processing deadline, funds may not be paid out by the state.
  • The deadline to be determined eligible, repay for dropped/withdrawn or other unearned credits, and/or to be disbursed (paid out) is 2 weeks prior to the end of Summer (Term 6) of the academic year.
  • All other critical deadlines for financial aid and for SF also apply.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is not a requirement to receive Bright Futures. However, when you submit the FAFSA you may qualify for additional funding.

Federal verification and Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) do not affect Bright Futures eligibility. However, if you are selected for verification or are not meeting SAP, you are encouraged to address these issue to possibly qualify for additional financial aid.

What if I do not see my Bright Futures Award on my account?

When Will I See My Award?

Each year Florida Bright Futures Scholarship awards are typically not available for you to view on your eSantaFe account until mid-July before the upcoming fall term begins. If you do not see the scholarship award on your eSantaFe but believe that you are eligible, follow the troubleshooting steps below.

Take the following steps if you do not see your Bright Futures award on your account in the Financial Aid Portal:

1. Check the eligibility requirements above and be sure you currently meet all of them.
2. Review eSantaFe to ensure you have completed the Florida residency process and that Santa Fe College has received your proof of high school completion.
3. Sign in to your Bright Futures account and verify:
   • your name in your account matches your name in eSantaFe.
   • your Social Security number in your account matches the Social Security number in eSantaFe.
   • you have indicated that you will be using your scholarship at Sante Fe College (ID # 012).
   • you have selected all the appropriate terms you will be using your scholarship at Santa Fe College.
4. If you need assistance verifying these items contact OSFA (State Financial Aid Office) at (888) 827 - 2004.

How much is the Florida Bright Futures award?

Bright Futures recipients receive an amount per credit hour that is set by the Florida legislature based on the costs at each school. Per State law (FL Statute 1009.23), not all costs are allowed to be included in the scholarship amount, even if it says 100% tuition and fees. The Florida Legislature reviews the amounts annually so your total scholarship may adjust from year to year, and may adjust after the fall term scholarships are posted.

Your award amount is based on your actual enrollment hours, and the amount awarded may be viewed on the Awards page in your Financial Aid Portal. As you adjust your registration, the award will increase or decrease accordingly, up until the disbursement (payment) process is started. You must be enrolled in at least six (6) credit hours each funded term to receive a Bright Futures scholarship.

Your award amount is locked in based on your enrollment as of the time your scholarship has started to be disbursed (paid out). If you are enrolled in mini-terms / sessions (like Fall B or Summer A, etc.) before your funds are disbursed, you receive scholarship funds for those classes too! This also means that you are responsible for completing those courses. Those classes are subject to the terms of Repayment (covered below), and you should not drop classes even if you are within the college's deadlines for adding and dropping within that mini-term, unless you plan to replace the course with one of equal hours.

The amount due after the Bright Futures award is posted, and the due date, will be indicated on your schedule in eSantaFe. If you have additional financial aid or Florida Prepaid your remaining tuition and fees balance may already be covered. You MUST pay any outstanding balance by the due date or all/some of your classes may be dropped. Often, the Bright Futures award is not enough to cover 100% of tuition and approved fees, so you may need to pay the remaining balance to keep classes from being dropped.

Florida Academic Scholars

Florida Academic Scholars (Summer Funding available)

Lower Division & Financial Aid Eligible Certificate – 100% of tuition and applicable fees (not all fees)

Upper Division – 100% of tuition and applicable fees (not all fees)

Florida Academic Scholars Example

Florida Medallion Scholars

Florida Medallion Scholars (Summer Funding available)

Associate Degree Programs (A.A. and A.S) - 100% of tuition and applicable fees (not all fees). 

Financial Aid Eligible Certificate – 75% of tuition and applicable fees (not all fees)

Lower Division (Not Associates Degree) – 75% of tuition and applicable fees (not all fees)
Upper Division – 75% of tuition and applicable fees (not all fees)

Florida Medallion Scholars Example

Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars

Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars

Financial Aid Eligible Applied Technology Diploma - $39 per credit hour enrolled
Financial Aid Eligible Certificate - $39 per credit hour enrolled

Gold Seal Vocational (Technology Diploma/Certificate) Example

Lower Division (Associate in Science ONLY) – $48 per credit hour enrolled

Gold Seal Vocational (Lower Division) Example

The Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars program will not fund A.A. or Baccalaureate programs.

Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars

Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars**

This scholarship is often awarded to students who completed the Career Pathways program(s) while in high school.

Financial Aid Eligible Applied Technology Diploma - $39 per credit hour enrolled
Financial Aid Eligible Certificate - $39 per credit hour enrolled.

Gold Seal CAPE (Technology Diploma/Certificate) Example

Lower Division (Associate in Science ONLY) - $48 per credit hour enrolled
Upper Division - $48 per credit hour enrolled 

Gold Seal CAPE (Lower/Upper Division) Example

The Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars program will not fund an A.A. degree. Upper division funding requires the completion of an Associate in Science that articulates to a Bachelor of Science OR Bachelor of Applied Science.

What if I have Florida Prepaid and Florida Bright Futures?

Students with Florida Bright Futures scholarships may also have the Florida Prepaid plan, which is handled by the SF Cashier's Office. If you choose to, you can use both. Because SF tuition is relatively affordable after completing the Florida Residency/Discounted Tuition process, you can save the FL Prepaid plan for another institution if transferring after attending SF.

Using your Florida Prepaid plan:

• Florida Prepaid is automatically matched to the attending student's Social Security Number using the SF application and the FL Prepaid database.
  • You will need to contact the Cashier's Office if you choose not to use FL Prepaid at SF (and saving it for another institution).
• The Prepaid account is used to cover the allowable portions of the SF bill such as tuition and fees (there are usually a small amount of fees left over after Bright Futures funds are applied).
  • You should check your FL Prepaid account to see which plan you have and what specifically can be covered.
• Whatever amount remains due on your SF bill viewable on eSantaFe is then covered by your Bright Futures scholarship.
• Any remaining awarded amount of the scholarship- including the amount that you would have paid in tuition and fees but is now being covered by the FL Prepaid plan- is paid out to the student (disbursed) as a refund.
  • Be sure that you have specified how you want to receive any amount of your refund. All refunds, including Bright Futures scholarships go through SF's vendor-partner, BankMobile.

Is there funding for Florida Bright Futures in the summer?

The Bright Futures Scholarship program allows Bright Futures Florida Academic Scholars (BFFAS) and Bright Futures Florida Medallion Scholars (BFFMS) to receive award funding for summer.

• Florida Academic Scholars and Florida Medallion Scholarship students will receive an award that covers 100 percent of tuition and applicable fees for the summer term.
  • The additional award for Academic Top Scholars will not be available for summer:

If you are planning to attend during summer, please notify the college by updating your state application for the academic year to indicate you will be attending for:

• Term 0 if you are newly graduated high school senior entering college for the first time
• Term 6 if you are a continuing college student or transferring to the college from another school.

Please update this as soon as possible to avoid any delays in your awards.

Funding Requirements

In order to receive summer funding, you:

• Must meet general Bright Futures eligibility/renewal requirements
• Must be enrolled in an eligible degree program
• Must be enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours at the time Summer eligibility is determined
• Must confirm that your Legal Name and Social Security Number matches between Santa Fe College and the State/OSFA

If you receive the scholarship in the summer, you are responsible for completing all funded credit hours in the summer in order to keep your scholarship.

For further information or assistance, you may contact OSFA Customer Service via email at OSFA@fldoe.org or call 888-827-2004.

Can transient students receive Florida Bright Futures funding?

If you are a student at one school temporarily taking courses at another school without transferring, this is called being a Transient student. In most cases, you will have to pay for your classes at your other school out of pocket while you await your scholarship payment to reimburse that upfront cost.

For SF students who wish to receive the Bright Futures scholarship while taking classes elsewhere, you must be approved for, enrolled in and confirmation of attendance for at least six (6) credit hours. The six credit hours may be in any configuration at either school. The confirmation of attendance for the other school must come through the official, electronic methods sanctioned by the State of Florida. At the end of the semester, you must send transcripts to SF immediately for accurate records and to prevent losing your Bright Futures scholarship.

For non-SF students temporarily taking classes at SF, SF can only process Bright Futures scholarships for SF-admitted students per State rules. You will need to pay for your SF classes, and then you will get "reimbursed" with your financial aid from your admitted school.

Financial Aid for Transient and Special Programs page

What are the renewal requirements for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship?

If you received funding during the current academic year you will automatically be evaluated for renewal at the end of the spring term, and at the end of the summer term if you receive summer funding.

You do not need to submit a renewal application for this to occur. Each spring Santa Fe College sends the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) every funded student's GPA and hours earned. Eligibility notifications are then posted to your online account on OSFA's website (usually around July 1st).

Transient students need to submit all transcripts from all attended institutions in enough time for receipt, evaluation and reporting of grades to the state so that eligibility can be determined.

If, in the first year of funding, you do not meet the annual minimum renewal GPA requirement you will be permitted a one-time restoration in a subsequent summer or academic year renewal period (end of spring term).

If you do not meet the minimum earned hours requirement or fail to meet the minimum GPA requirement after the first year of funding you will NOT be permitted a restoration opportunity.

Your summer grade and hours earned after spring evaluation may only be used to meet the scholarship renewal requirements if you have a one-time restoration opportunity available. You must ask a financial aid officer at the postsecondary institution (that reported your spring renewal grades and hours) to submit a summer grade and hours update to the Bright Futures office indicating the adjusted cumulative GPA and hours.

Grade Point Average (GPA) Requirement

The renewal cumulative GPA requirements are outlined in the table below.

Credit Hour Requirement

You must earn credit for all hours paid by your Bright Futures scholarship. Hours paid must equal hours earned. Funds for hours not earned because they are dropped, withdrawn, failed, retaken or for any other reason should be repaid immediately if you calculate that your GPA will meet requirements.

If you receive funding during the current academic year (fall through spring) you are automatically evaluated for renewal at the end of the spring term. The annual credit hour renewal requirement for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program is the measure of the number of credit hours you must earn based on your enrollment type per term. The enrollment type is based on credit hours funded when your disbursement (payment) information is sent to the State/OSFA to request approval.

Therefore, OSFA encourages students to use the Bright Futures Credit Hour Interactive Tool. This tool allows students to customize the credit hour requirement to their individual enrollment scenario per term.

Renewal into a Different Scholarship Type

• Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) with 2.75-2.99 GPA at the end of the renewal period will renew as Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS). If the GPA is improved above a 3.0 in a subsequent renewal period, your eligibility will restore as a FAS, using the one-time restoration opportunity.
• If you earned the FMS, Gold Seal CAPE Scholars (GSC), or Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV) award in high school you may not renew to the FAS award.
• A GSC or GSV award may not renew to the FMS.

If I do not complete my classes am I required to repay Bright Futures funds?

If you drop or withdraw after the disbursement process for your scholarship has started, (see Academic Calendar) you are required, by the state of Florida, to repay Santa Fe College for any credits for which Bright Futures paid. Note: If the drop or withdraw was due to an extenuating/critical situation, please inform the Financial Aid Office to see if you may qualify for a Bright Futures Appeal.

The College will pay this to the State on your behalf, and schools who are participating in State programs are permitted to seek repayment of this amount from the student.

• Any amount that the College repays for this process will be billed to the student, creating a student financial obligation to the College.
• If a student does not pay funds due to Santa Fe College to cover their balance, the student's records will be placed on financial hold.
• A financial hold or obligation means you will not be permitted to register for classes or receive transcripts until the balance is paid.

If you do not repay the Bright Futures funded classes dropped or withdrawn, or successfully appeal, by the end of the current academic year, you will not be eligible for renewal or funding for the subsequent academic year. Repaying after the end of the current academic year deadline will clear your financial obligation to Santa Fe College, but may not allow you to be eligible for Bright Futures.

Mini-Terms/Flex-Terms (i.e. Fall B)

Your award amount is calculated based on your enrollment as of the time your scholarship is disbursed (paid out). If you are enrolled in mini-terms / sessions / flex-terms (like Fall B or Summer A, etc.), you receive scholarship funds for those classes too! This also means that you are responsible for completing those courses. Those classes are subject to the terms of Repayment (covered below), and you should not drop them even if you are within the college's deadlines for adding and dropping within that mini-term.

Other Repayment Situations

Bright Futures scholarships require credits paid to equal credits earned. If you anticipate you will not earn credit in a course while receiving Bright Futures during that term, you may want to request the ability to return the funds for that course to prevent loss of your scholarship. Such situations include:

• Completing a course on a C or Better Appeal
• Receiving a "D" or "F" grade in a course (no credits earned)
• Retaking a course during a Bright Futures evaluation period
• Taking courses for which you've already earned prior credit (i.e. late/AP/IB transcripts)
• Any other situations that cause credits not to be earned/reported on your transcript

Can I restore or reinstate my Bright Futures Scholarship?

One-Time Restoration Opportunity

After your first year of funding, if your cumulative GPA is below 2.75, you may use that summer to increase your GPA. If, at the end of the summer term your GPA is still below the minimum 2.75, you will have until the end of the second year to bring the GPA up to at least a 2.75. You may then apply for a One Time Reinstatement at the Bright Futures website through the state of Florida. The summer term may be used for GPA renewal ONLY after first year of funding.

You are not eligible for Reinstatement/Restoration if your GPA falls below 2.75 after the first year.

For more information about restoration, visit the "Renewing Your Award" section on the Bright Futures website.

Reinstatement

If you are an eligible student who did not receive funding during the previous academic year you may be able to apply for scholarship funding as a reinstating student.

If you are a first year in college student receiving Bright Futures, your summer grades and hours earned after the spring evaluation may be used if necessary, to meet the scholarship renewal requirements. To use this provision, you must submit an appeal for reinstatement to the Financial Aid Office, which will notify the financial aid office that you would like to submit a grade and hours update to the Bright Futures/OSFA office with the adjusted cumulative GPA and/or hours.

If you attended another college or university and have transfer credits, the transfer credits may be used in the cumulative GPA calculation.

For more information about reinstatement, visit the " Renewing Your Award" section on the Bright Futures website.

Can I appeal if I do not meet renewal requirements for Bright Futures?

A scholarship appeal should only be submitted when you did not meet scholarship criteria based on extenuating circumstances beyond your control. Please refer to the Bright Futures Appeal Worksheet available on the financial aid appeals web page.

Florida Department of Education Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA)

Contact Number: 1-888-827-2004

For easy access to program information, application and award status, students are responsible for regularly checking their State account on the Bright Futures Website.

Santa Fe College's Bright Futures State School Code is 012.

Title IX Disclosure

The Office of Financial Aid is required to report incidents of sexual violence or sexual harassment disclosed to the Equal Opportunity Officer and Title IX Coordinator for follow-up and possible investigation. If you have experienced any form of sexual violence and would like to speak confidentially to a counselor for support, please contact the Counseling and Wellness Center by phone at 352-395-5508 or by visiting Building R, Room 227.