Bright Future Scholarship Increases/Flat rate tuition (Block Tuition)/OOS Benacquisto Scholarship

To get Bright Futures you have to fill out the Bright Futures application; you ALSO have to make sure you do the FAFSA, whether you have financial need or not.

Wow, if so, what a relief. And relatively early in my college career.

@Trisherella is the FAFSA requirement new? I thought it wasn’t required as of a few years ago. Perhaps I am wrong on this.

@UFgogators Keep in mind that the BF expenses are also going up, since it can now be used for the summer term. However, with that being said, it really does look like everyone is covered.

So the previous stated article says:

“Universities and colleges also are expected to see major policy changes under a related bill (SB 374) that is part of the budget negotiations. The bill would require universities to offer block tuition, where students pay a flat fee per semester rather than a credit-hour charge, by the fall of 2018.”

Would this also include the increase in BF not happening until fall of 2018, or am I misinterpreting?

I could have sworn I read that somewhere today, ufmom, but it appears that’s outdated. No FAFSA needed.

Nobody should take my word for it, though!

@Trisherella I wasn’t sure…things can change on a dime…lol

@beachgirl12345 The Fall of 2018 isn’t for Bright Futures, etc. That’s to give schools time to come up with Block Tuition.

They have to propose how much to charge each semester for “block” tuition, and then get it approved. The schools wanted to charge the equivalent of 15 credit hours (about $3,300 per semester), while the legislature was proposing something closer to 12 hours ($2,640). I’m sure the final number will be closer to what the colleges had proposed.

EDIT:
Why propose Block Tuition in the first place? The legislature wants to incent students to take a full load of courses (15 or more credit hours a semester), as a way to improve the 4 year graduation rates. Also, the legislature has switch from using 6-year graduation rates as a performance metric, to 4-year graduation rates. You’ll start to see much more focus on graduating in 4 years at the University level…

The 4 year graduation rate target is also likely a key reason why they will now allow BF to be used for the summer term. It should Incent students to take classes over the summer to keep them on track to graduate in 4 years.

Why does the state legislature care so much about 4 year graduation rates? They want to limit the expense of earning a 4 year degree. Your cost is far less, if you graduate in 4 years, vs 5 or 6 years. Another key performance metric (with 4-year grad rates) is the average cost of a 4 year degree.

These performance metrics are used to determine how much performance based funding is awarded to each state university, so the schools do take them seriously. In fact, if the schools fall short of their targets, not only will they receive none of the extra funding, but they could also lose a % of their core funding.

I wonder if block tuition will help engineering majors who have so many added costs for labs and materials. It is definitely more expensive to be an engineering major.

Yay block tuition!

I was very interested in double or triple majoring since UF take so many ap credits (up to 45 hours). That means no added expense. Great.

@AimingTop50 even if ap doesn’t count toward excess hours, you will probably need to watch it carefully. Current BF, I think, only pays for up to 120 hours, 45 max per year. It can be extended by application perhaps. Just saying to “read the fine print”…lol. But I commend you for aiming high.

@ufmomfriend I’m gonna be a Benacquisto kid hopefully, so I don’t know if I will have to incur extra charges (especially with changes to the state scholarship system).

That would be fantastic!

Still no word from Senator Book! !

From the Palm Beach Post

From the Orlando Sentinel

I could not find any mention that the “Florida Excellence in Higher Education Act of 2017” was not intact.

@CaucAsianDad - thanks for posting. We are NMF hopefuls in Texas so we are watching to see if the Benacquisto will be offered to OOS students.

Any word on whether the bright futures increase was passed by the house.? Can’t find any info

It’s in the budget, which should be approved on Monday. Then it has to get by the Governor’s line item veto. I can’t see any reasons for the Governor to veto this piece of popular legislation.

However, he may target some of the house initiatives (he and the leader of the house are butting heads), which may impact some of the house PK-12 initiatives.

That sounds hopeful. I hope I am wrong but on the Florida house website it said the bill was postponed from consideration indefinitely on Friday. Did anyone else hear or see this?

@Kteacher22 I can’t find any verbiage that says it’s postponed from consideration. Not that I really know what I’m doing!! haha!