Fla. Bright Futures Scholarships take a hit
Bad news for any parent with kids that have a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship. State schools recently sent out letters to those parents informing them of changes to the scholarships. And the changes will mean less tuition money.
The changes are not only affecting incoming college students but also current students. Students with a Bright Futures scholarship are now going to get funding based on credit hours, instead of getting a percentage for tuition. In previous years academic scholars would get 100% tuition paid now they will get $126.00 per credit hour. Medallion and Gold Seal scholars used to get 75% of tuition paid, but now they'll only get $95 per credit hour.
In some cases that may mean almost a 60 percent decrease in tuition money. For some local college advisers, the changes to the program are not being welcomed. They say it's not right to promise kids scholarship money, and then take it away from them, midway through their college careers.
"With the economy the way that it is, they're truly going to be hurt by it... Some may not be able to finish... Some may not be able to start... And I think that our seniors of 2009 thought that we were going to be able to fund them at a certain level, and now they find out with one month to go before school starts, that they're not going to be funded at that level," said Helene Kessler with Boca Raton Community High School.
A lot of students and their families are now scrambling to find ways to pay tuition, and the economic crisis isn't helping the situation.
For some parents already without work and suffering economically, paying more tuition may mean forcing their children to not finish college or not begin at all. Some of those students may now have to consider getting part time jobs, and taking out more loans to pay for a college education.
