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.