Official Bright Future Info

[Mary Beth Jones]

2008
There are several "firsts" this year:

* Bright Futures award notifications (eligible) are being e-mailed
to students who provided e-mail addresses on their Florida Financial Aid
Applications (FFAAs). Ineligible notifications were e-mailed to
students for the first time last year.
* Bright Futures award notifications (eligible and ineligible)
will be sent via hardcopy to students whose e-mails were returned as
undeliverable and to those students with no e-mail address on their
FFAAs.
* The award notifications (eligible) are from The Florida Bright
Futures Scholarship Program, not the Commissioner. The ineligible
notifications were always from The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship
Program.
* The 8th semester ineligible notification contains a reference to
appeal, which would be the Reevaluation process. Within the next week,
there will be a new, secured link on the Bright Futures website.

[Mary Beth Jones]

MEMORANDUM
TO: Bright Futures High School Guidance Counselors and District Contacts
FROM: Theresa Antworth, Director
State Scholarship and Grant Programs
DATE: August 15, 2012
SUBJECT: Second Notice: Bright Futures Scholarship Program Mid-year Graduates Apply by August 31, 2012
The 2012 Florida Legislature passed House Bill 7059 which allows students who graduate from high school mid-year to be evaluated for Bright Futures. Mid-year could be any high school term prior to the last term of the academic year. If determined eligible, a student may receive funding in the current academic year if enrolled in a postsecondary institution following the student’s high school graduation.
The 2012 Florida Legislature passed House Bill 7059, which allows students who graduate from high school mid-year to be evaluated for Bright Futures and, if eligible, to receive funding in a spring term, postsecondary enrollment following the student’s high school graduation. Mid-year could be any term prior to the last term of the academic year.
It is important that you notify your students who intend to graduate mid-year that they must file a 2012-13 Florida Financial Aid Application by August 31, 2012. This is the same application that the spring 2012 high school graduates filed. The FFAA is available online at www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/ua/SAWSTUA_uaform.asp.
Public high school districts should continue to submit student transcripts electronically and private schools should continue to submit student transcripts online to the Florida Department of Education. Mid-year graduates will be evaluated two times.
o 7th semester – A mid-year graduate 7th semester evaluation includes completed spring coursework and grades, community service hours, and test scores for test dates through the end of June 2012.
o Final 8th semester – After the fall graduation and all grades are posted, a final, 8th semester transcript evaluation includes all completed coursework and grades, community service hours, and test scores for test dates through the end of December 2012.
Please contact Jacque Hunt, Public Schools Specialist or Julia Osmond, Private Schools Specialist, toll-free at 1-888-827-2004 should you have any questions.