<p>BRIGHT FUTURES: Florida's Bright Futures scholarships would no longer pay for many dropped classes under a bill (HB 719) unanimously approved by a House appropriations panel. The bill next goes to the House floor. A similar bill (SB 1364) has cleared two of three Senate committees.</p>
<p>Most colleges and universities have a grace period to drop a course without paying. Bright Futures students who drop a course after that would have to reimburse the state.</p>
<p>I personally do not have a problem with this proposal. IMO - if you are the best and brightest, you should be able to man up and finish courses you start without wasting taxpayer money, especially in this current tough economic environment.</p>
<p>The Bright Futures program is broken. For the program to continue, financial need has to be thrown into the formula. I saw an estimate from a couple of years ago that 1/3 of BF recipients come from households with over $100,000 annual income. I know BF is a merit program, but practicality and doing what is right necessitates some changes.</p>
<p>Messing with Bright Futures is like disturbing a beehive; if it is touched, some people will surely get upset and agitated no matter what is done.</p>
<p>I agree. My D’s would loose BF with any financial aid requirements, but I still agree that it ought to be merit with need. I think that it SHOULD NOT squeeze out the middle class, and it should not just be for the really needy, but I have to agree that my D’s earned it but we don’t need it. I would rather pay, and see others in my position pay, so that we retain the quality of education, and IMPROVE that quality of education. But, folks in my neighborhood will be screaming and yelling if it is pulled. </p>
<p>I have FL prepaid for my D’s’ I had a neighbor who makes more than me say that they “deserve” BF dollars as they didn’t have Prepaid plans, but that my family is not deserving because we did!!?!? I feel neither of us should qualify if it is going to bankrupt education.</p>
<p>Nobody should get free money for having a 970 on the SAT (that is the bottom 35th percentile).</p>
<p>Do not waste tax money on students who need remediation. We need to invest the limited funding wisely and keep the best & brightest in the state of Florida.</p>
<p>One money saving idea: Students should be encouraged to finish their undergraduate degrees in 3 years instead of 4 (or more). This would also be a way of saving the taxpayer money for the scholarship program. Students who qualify for the scholarship should have at least one year of general education requirements completed through acceleration methods or summer school which is not currently covered. I know a lot of people who are hanging around for a second major or minor for an extra year just because they have the scholarship money available and it is hard to find a job.</p>
<p>I started at USF as a new freshman last fall with a bunch of dual enrollment credits from high school. At the end of this spring semester I will be classified as a senior. I am doing 2 majors and I am in no rush now to get out of college. If I graduated next year, I’d be too young for employers to take me seriously. I plan to attend graduate school, and feel the 2 majors will better prepare me for graduate school. I am truly grateful that I will be able to use Bright Futures for 3 more years if necessary. I’m taking this summer off from school and luckily have a summer job with the state of Florida. (Hope they don’t scratch my job off the budget during the next couple of weeks!)</p>
<p>See what I mean - you sound great, but the taxpayers are paying for students like you to stay in college a lot longer than is necessary for you to get an undergraduate degree. If you were paying the tuition out of your own pocket, you might be more anxious to get done quicker and reduce your expenses. The current scholarship encourages students to stay the extra year so they get the full amount available to them.</p>
<p>Hey, all I hinted was that I might attend a state university for a full four years of undergraduate studies at USF. After I get my bachelor degrees I hope to continue at graduate school. One of the degrees is a “back-up” in case graduate school isn’t in the cards. My situation has some flex in that I can squeeze in a second major. Any thing I do is indeed tempered with what I can afford to pay and I may not be able to stretch my undergraduate studies that long. If I can utilize the Bright Futures, all the better. Once I get my first bachelor degree–Bright Futures stops paying. I’m not trying to abuse BF or scam the state, and what I am doing is perfectly legal. If anyone has suggestions or recommendations for improving BF–contact your elected state officials and other policy makers for Florida higher education. </p>
<p>Taxpayers are paying for prisoners in Florida state prisons for longer than anyone likes too. I think money spent on higher education with vehicles like Bright Futures is a sound investment for Florida taxpayers. I’m a taxpayer too–have been paying Florida sales taxes for over 18 years, also have bought some lottery tickets the past 7 months–have won zilch which I guess helps the cause!</p>
<p>larryw09 - that is a good point that degrees like engineering can also take 5 years so perhaps there could be some leeway depending on major. Perhaps the scholarship should require a minimum 15 credits per semester instead of 6 - again to push students through the system faster.</p>
<p>lizard - don’t take any personal offense please. The current proposal on the table is just to make students repay for dropped courses, which sounds very reasonable to me. After I mentioned it, people start up with saying we should make BF only for poor kids or only for the highest achievers, I was just offering an alternative so middle class people that are good students could still have a way to receive the scholarship but perhaps could be encouraged to get done quicker so we get the most bang for less buck.</p>
<p>Another idea I was thinking is make the GPA higher to retain the scholarship. Currently for renewal you need a 3.0 for the 100% and 2.75 for the 75%. Perhaps if these were raised and higher minimum credits per semester required we could naturally limit the expense to just the most deserving students.</p>
<p>LIZARD - You are right that mentioning BF changes does get people very upset. I know I really appreciate not having to pay for my student’s tuition – but if the state does not have the funding, we have to make some changes.</p>
<p>First of all, sunnyflorida appears to suffer a delusional neighbor - my condolences, SF.</p>
<p>Yes, BF needs to be tweaked. Thresholds certainly need to be higher, students should be incentivized to streamline their education (maybe regressive coverage for year 4, etc. unless in a 5 year program). Lots of taxpayer dollars went into gifted programs for these bright students in their primary/secondary school years to allow them to accumulate college level credits; they could/should be in the college pipeline for a shorter time. Especially with summer terms!</p>
<p>By all means the state should not be paying for dropped courses! Efficiency with money!</p>
<p>In-state tuition makes in-state attendance verrrry attractive, but if as a society we don’t apply more dollars to the state university system, the deterioration will surely cause our best and brightest to go elsewhere - no matter how financially attractive. At some point, that good old adage “you get what you pay for” will be reality.</p>
<p>Currently, we are educating to the middle (as reflected in SAT/ACT scores), I believe. Is that what we want to continue doing? These are difficult questions.</p>
<p>Hopefully someone, somewhere is actually running numbers on the efficacy of the program. I’m happy to see that vocational school is covered, also. Not everyone is cut out for college, and our society needs all types of career paths.</p>
<p>I came in with college credits (somewhere around 12-15) but taking anything less than 4 years would still be out of the question. I mean, unless you come in with at least 9 credits (I believe?) you’re forced to at least 1 summer of classes just for a regular 4-year degree. I’m even taking a 4-credit class this summer at my local CC.</p>
<p>I would be horrified if bright futures required 15 credits a semester. For me, that is a very full load! Considering labs and languages required it is (and will be for me) very time consuming. I struggle now trying to get the 28 credits per year required of me to hold my university scholarship. Taking 15 credits this semester (as opposed to the 13 last semester) has already hurt my grades significantly. I’m hoping moving out of general education requirements will be my saving grace.</p>
<p>I’m 100% bright futures, university scholarship holder, and lateral honors student. However with my disability schoolwork takes time. I hope students like me aren’t eventually squeezed out of bright futures.</p>
<p>Im not sure folks realize where the funding for BF comes from.
BF is funded by proceeds from the Florida Lottery.
The taxpayers of the State of Florida approved the lottery (gambling) on the condition that education in Fla be enhanced (Bright Futures Program) etc.</p>
<p>IF ANYTHING the State keeps using the the lottery procceeds as a cash cow for programs that they are unwilling to raise fees or taxes for. For example the class size ammendment is funded by the Florida lottery.</p>
<p>The money is there. It is simply being diverted.</p>
<p>But NO aa SAT of 970 should NOT get you a 75% BF.
Only perhaps at a Community College.</p>
<p>Standards for receiving the scholarship should be raised, a 970 is too low except for maybe a CC.i myself got 100% with 1270, do i think it should be raised, probably, but i got it fair and square.</p>
<p>BF should not be based on time, rather on Credit Hours like Florida Pre-Paid. you have a certain amount of credits that you can use at any given time in your college career. say 120 hours. if that takes you 6 years so be it, who cares, the money is only there for credits, take time out of the equation and let children be. the mindset now is get in, get out, fast as possible, least money as possible, that’s the worst mindset i can think of. college is not just about classes and school work. it is a page in someones life, to hurry it up because you dont want to pay, well make it based on credits and problem solved. 15 credit hours a semester for some people (like myself, Chemistry Major) would severly hurt my gpa. Labs are 1 credit and take the most work out of any class. People may think my youth is biasing my opinion but to have 60 yr old politicians decide what is right for 18-22 yr old students is bogus. IMO, the majority of older people that know what is going on are the Academic Advisers.</p>
<p>^^^ then whats the big deal about taking your time. 132 hours is 132 hours. whether you spread it over 3, 4, or 5 years i dont see how its costing taxpayers more money in funding for brightfutures.</p>
<p>Most bright college freshman arrive with 15-40 credit hours from AP, IB, DE. Some come with enough DE credits to nearly have an AA. They then use ANOTHER 132 hours BECAUSE THEY CAN. It is my understanding that up to 132 hours can be charged to BF, even if one already has, say 30. We are saying that it should not pay for hours after 120, no matter who paid for the first 15-20. If you come with 30 hours and can graduate in 3 years, but use BF for another year of credits just to avoid graduating, to get a double major, to take extra classes beyond what you need, it can be a drain on the state budget coffers. If you bring 30 and need 90, BF should just pay for 90, not another 132.</p>
<p>In essence I was suggesting decreasing the number of credits the program pays for since most university students will come in with credits through acceleration nowadays.
The only real cost of time is increased inflation as well as making more room for future students to be able to attend without having to expand facilities.</p>
<p>I can see my suggested idea is not popular so I will drop it.</p>