Bright Futures Renewal
Eligibility

Renewal eligibility is an automatic process that occurs at the end of the spring term for those students who received funding during the previous year. The institution(s) where the student received funding reports the overall cumulative GPA or UCF GPA, whichever is higher, and hours completed for the year to the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) of the Florida Department of Education in Tallahassee. Renewal students must earn the GPA and the required hours indicated below on all college coursework attempted, including high school dual enrollment and out-of-state coursework. The student may request the exclusion of dual enrollment courses completed while attending high school from the GPA, if needed to meet requirements.

Florida Academic Scholars Award (FLAS)

The GPA requirement for the FLAS is 3.0.

Must have successfully completed an average of at least 6 hours for each term funded by the Bright Futures award for the previous year.
For example:

If a student was funded for one term, the total of earned hours would need to be 6 hours.

If a student was funded for two terms, the total of earned hours would need to be 12 hours.

NOTE: If the student's GPA is less than 3.0 but equal to 2.75 or higher, OSFA will convert the student to the Florida Medallion Scholarship Program.

Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars Award (FLGS) &
Florida Medallion Scholars Award (FLMR)

The GPA requirement for the FLMR and the FLGS is 2.75.

Must have successfully completed an average of 6 hours for each term funded by the Bright Futures award for the previous year.

For example:

If a student was funded for one term, the total of earned hours would need to be 6 hours.

If a student was funded for two terms, the total of earned hours would need to be 12 hours.

WHAT IF I DID NOT MEET THE SCHOLARSHIP RENEWAL CRITERIA DUE TO A VERIFIABLE ILLNESS OR OTHER CIRCUMSTANCE BEYOND MY CONTROL?

If you do not meet the renewal GPA and /or required hours due to a verifiable illness or other emergency, you may file a SCHOLARSHIP APPEAL FORM with our office. The medical or emergency circumstances that affected the semester/s in question must be documented. You should provide as much documentation as possible regarding the illness or emergency to our office.

NOTE: A student may file the scholarship appeal any time after they have received notification from our office indicating they did not meet the renewal requirements.

Official ineligibility notices are e-mailed to students during the summer following spring evaluation of their renewal eligibility by OSFA. If a student has not already filed a scholarship appeal with our office by that time, they must file this scholarship appeal within 30 days of the date of the ineligibility notice sent to them by OSFA.

The scholarship appeal must be submitted during the month prior to the next scholarship appeals committee meeting. The scholarship committee meets the second week of each month to review appeals. You will be notified (by e-mail) of the decision of the committee.

OTHER GRADE AND HOUR SITUATIONS

A student may request that his/her high school dual enrollment course(s) be excluded from the calculation of the overall cumulative GPA.

Please indicate this information on the Bright Future Renewal Re-Evaluation Form.

 

GRADE CHANGE OR CLASSES TRANSFERRED

Students who have a grade change, from the most recent fall and/or spring term, may complete the Renewal Re-Evaluation Form, available at the end of May.

Students who have recently submitted transfer hours, which are now documented in the Registrar's Office, may complete the Renewal Re-Evaluation Form.

SUMMER GRADES AND HOURS

SUMMER GRADES AND HOURS earned after spring evaluation may be used, if necessary, to meet the scholarship renewal requirements.

As soon as the summer grades and/or summer transfer hours have been posted to a student’s records, the student can complete the Renewal Re-Evaluation Form with our office. If the student meets the renewal requirements at the end of the summer term, we will send the updated Grades/Hours information to the State for reinstatement of the appropriate scholarship.

If the student is enrolled at UCF for the summer, the system is programmatically updated. It is not necessary to complete the Renewal Re-Evaluation Form.