Lawmakers have backed away from a demand that applicants for the merit-based Bright Futures Scholarship Program file for federal financial aid.
During a weekend budget conference, the House and Senate removed from a proposed Bright Futures overhaul the requirement that scholarship hopefuls file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as FAFSA.
“I’m glad that that they took that out, because I think the middle class should serve as the best and the brightest,” said Diane Cudia, a Boca Raton mother whose 17-year-old daughter, Avalon, has been accepted to Florida State University.
The FAFSA filing requirement drew concerns from some that lawmakers could use the information to move Bright Futures toward becoming a needs-based scholarship, although the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Daytona Beach, has said that was not the intent. The intent is to get statistical data on those who receive Bright Futures.
Lynn said that the FAFSA filing requirement was removed because House budget negotiators did not agree with it. She said she did not know why they disagreed with the FAFSA requirement and would liked to have seen it attached to the budget to gather statistical information on FAFSA applicants.
“We don’t have any data on that at all,” she said.
Cudia said Bright Futures needs to be retained as a scholarship for the middle class, because low-income students can already receive federal aid. Without the Bright Futures Scholarship, she and her husband would have needed to cut into their savings.
Lake Wales Republican and chief Senate budget negotiator J.D. Alexander said that the FAFSA requirement proved to be an insurmountable sticking point, and the Senate negotiators needed to compromise and discard the requirement to see the rest of its changes moved through.
The majority of Lynn’s Bright Futures overhaul, prompted by fears of insufficient lottery funds for the program, remains intact. Lynn’s proposal raises qualifying SAT scores for the Bright Futures Academic and Medallion scholarships, which respectively cover as much as $126 and $95 per credit hour, depending on an applicant’s grades. It also eliminates the ability to receive the scholarship again once a recipient loses it.
The move toward more demanding test scores to qualify for Bright Futures is a good change, said Cudia, whose daughter plans to major in accounting at FSU. Raising the requirements retains Bright Futures as a merit-based program, saves the state money, and preserves the program for the middle-class, she said.
“That’s who it was supposed to be for originally,” she said.
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