<p>Minimum required GPAs for Bright Futures Scholarship renewals could be increased with the newly proposed state House of Representatives' plan. Combined with the already "automatic" 15% annual tuition increases and the proposed "Preeminent University" extra tuition surcharge, attending FSU is getting less affordable for thousands of FSU students every year.</p>
<p>I hate to admit this, but I actually wouldn’t meet the GPA requirements to renew Bright Futures. By… wait for it… .01 (I have a 3.24 GPA).</p>
<p>I do have a 4.0 going this semester though, so I should be able to bump up above 3.25. But heck, that’s still really amazing to think. </p>
<p>As long as they don’t impact its monetary amount though, I’m okay with it for now.</p>
<p>I can’t argue with a decision to insist on at least a 3.0 GPA.</p>
<p>I’m honestly amazed at how generous the BF program has been and I have mixed feelings about it. It has probably kept a lot of “smart” students within Florida, but it has also created what I feel is a sense of entitlement and unwarranted arrogance by some students, especially in their attitude towards community colleges. </p>
<p>Prior to the BF program, it was perfectly normal for good students to attend community colleges for the first two years of school (while living at home) followed by two years at one of the universities. This was MUCH cheaper than going off to a university for four years. The BF program changed this by making it affordable for basically everyone, including relatively average students who previously would not have qualified for merit-based scholarships, to bypass community colleges and go straight to a four year school. The result is that community colleges became viewed as the place for dummies and there is a sense of elitism that did not exist years ago.</p>
<p>Access, affordability, and scholarship are the foundations of public higher education. Raising the thresholds for Bright Futures, raising tuition, and decreasing state funding to Florida state universities and colleges limits or prevents access and affordability for thousands of students. If only students with a lot of money attend college–elitism will result.</p>
<p>I admit, this comes at a bad time. Students are simultaneously getting hit with too many things at once.</p>
<p>Are the new GPA requirements for BF unweighted or weighted?</p>
<p>^ relax, legislators from senate and house have to confer this week yet and conform final budget bill, then the governor has to ok it–nothing has been finalized yet and anything can happen yet.</p>
<p>Looks like it will only affect the GPA required to retain the scholarship. Doesn’t bother me as it won’t affect me, but I agree it’s not fair in that some majors are FAR easier than others. A 3.0 in engineering is more impressive than a 3.25 in some easy major.</p>
<p>I’ve always felt they should increase the requirements to get the scholarship. They were pretty much just giving money away when you only needed a 970 SAT score to get $95/Credit Hour. Too many non-serious students were receiving the money to go to community colleges, and that was not the purpose of the scholarship. The purpose was to keep the best and brightest in the state of Florida.</p>
<p>The 75 percent should have required at least an 1100, and then maybe they wouldn’t have to dilute its value so much.</p>
<p>This proposal seems like another step in reducing the Bright Futures program; it will be dried up in about 5 years (or needs based only). It started with making it a flat amount awarded, then they require a FAFSA form be filled out so they can receive everyone’s information, then they reduce the value of the scholarship $25/Credit hour, and now raising requirements again. I feel sorry for those still in HS. They will have higher tuition and no or limited bright futures.</p>
<p>Matt, you are so right about the requirements being too low from the beginning. 970 wouldn’t even get most students into FSU! Unfortunately now we might be losing the benefit that we earned throughout high school. </p>
<p>And there are many majors that are so much harder than others to maintain a 3.5 GPA. I wonder if there is any consideration of some sort of scale of difficulty being taken into account. But I seriously doubt they would go to so much trouble.</p>
<p>I think it would make sense to exempt STEM or medical majors, or allow a .25 GPA differential. As a taxpayer, I’d rather fund the kid with a 2.75 GPA in Engineering than a another guy with a 3.00 GPA in Social Sciences.</p>
<p>There are many challenging majors, not just STEM. But to treat ALL majors equally would NOT be fair. </p>
<p>Interesting articles…they are not new, but they make good points.</p>
<p>[The</a> Big Bright Futures Lie | Sunshine State News](<a href=“http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/big-bright-futures-lie]The”>The Big Bright Futures Lie | Sunshine State News | Florida Political News)</p>
<p>[The</a> End of ‘Bright Futures’ in Florida and the Big Lie - Democratic Underground](<a href=“http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024184]The”>http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024184)</p>