Florida Bright Futures Scholarship
The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program, funded by the state of Florida, provides scholarships based on high school academic achievement. The program has different award levels, each with its own eligibility criteria and award amounts. Awards are per credit hour.
Eligibility & Requirements | Program Types | Exceptions | Timeline | Summer Funding | Renewal and Reinstatement | Repayment | Appeals
How to Apply for Bright Futures
Students must apply for the scholarship by submitting the Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA) no later than August 31 after high school graduation.
Bright Futures Eligibility and Requirements
Pro Tip: To avoid delays to your Bright Futures awarding, please complete a Florida residency declaration. For further information regarding Florida residency, please visit UNF's Residency webpage.
Bright Futures Requirements
Each award has different academic criteria for eligibility and provides a different award amount and/or number of credit hours. In order to qualify for one of these awards, you must:
- Be a Florida resident and a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen
- Complete the Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA) by August 31 the year of your high school graduation
- Earn a standard Florida high school diploma or its equivalent from a Florida public high school or a registered Florida Department of Education private school
- Not have been convicted of (or pleaded no contest to) a felony charge
- Be accepted by and enroll in a degree or certificate program at an eligible Florida public or independent post-secondary institution
- Be enrolled for at least six (non-remedial) credit hours per term
Eligibility
Eligibility and application criteria are available from your high school guidance office, or the Florida Bright Futures Program website.
Students are not required to submit a FAFSA in order to receive both initial and renewal Bright Futures eligibility. Students are encouraged to submit the FAFSA to learn of potential eligibility for additional state and federal aid.
Note: Gold Seal (Cape/or Vocational) Scholarships are not offered at UNF as we are a post-secondary institution specialized in degree programs.
Types of Bright Future Scholarship Programs
Florida Academic Scholars (FAS)
Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) will receive an award to cover 100% of tuition and applicable fees. Scholarship recipients may receive funding for up-to five years from high school graduation for a maximum of 120 credit hours toward the completion of a first baccalaureate degree. The Florida Academic Scholar with the highest academic ranking in each county will also receive the Academic Top Scholars Award.
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The Florida Academic Scholars Award is $207.73 per credit hour.
The Academic Top Scholars Award is $44 per credit hour.
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Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS)
Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS) will receive an award to cover 75% of tuition and applicable fees. Scholarship recipients may receive funding for up-to five years from high school graduation for a maximum of 120 credit hours toward the completion of a first baccalaureate degree.
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The Florida Medallion Scholars Award is $155.79 per credit hour.
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Exceptions to Bright Futures Requirements
Students who have less than six credit hours of remaining Bright Futures eligibility, or who need fewer than six credit hours to graduate, may be funded if enrolled for less than six credit hours.
Graduating students will need to complete a graduation application to be awarded for less than six credit hours.
A FAS or FMS scholarship recipient, who graduates with a baccalaureate degree in seven or fewer terms, or in 105 credit hours or fewer, may receive funding for one term of graduate study, not to exceed 15 credit hours paid at the undergraduate rate. Graduate school funding must be used within the applicable scholarship length.
Bright Futures Timeline
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UNF begins awarding estimated Bright Futures awards for incoming first-time-in-college (FTIC) students in April for the upcoming academic year. Continuing renewal students will receive an estimated award when awarding begins for the next academic year starting in late fall.
From late fall to the end of May, these estimates are based on previous eligibility for continuing renewal students.
UNF will load the Master Eligibility List (MEL) from the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) which includes students who received the Bright Futures Initial Award Letter from OSFA. Incoming FTIC students on the MEL will be awarded in April.
Estimated Bright Futures awards will be cancelled for students whose final determination has not yet been made by the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA).
UNF receives weekly eligibility updates from OSFA. Students who become eligible can expect an award within 5-7 business days of OSFA's final determination. To prevent a delay in awarding, please ensure all demographic information (including SSN) with OSFA matches the information in your UNF account.
Summer Funding for Bright Futures Scholars
The Bright Futures Scholarship allows Bright Futures Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) and Bright Futures Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS) students to receive award funding during summer terms.
FAS students will receive an award that covers 100% of tuition and applicable fees for the summer term. FMS students will receive an award that covers 75% of tuition and applicable fees.
To be considered for summer funding, select UNF as your preferred institution for the appropriate summer term on the Florida's Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) website. Continuing students should select Term 6 of the 2023-2024 academic year, while recent high school graduates should select Term 0 of the 2024-2025 academic year.
Funding Requirements
In order to receive summer funding, FAS and FMS students:
- Must be enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours.
- Students with less than 6 credit hours required for graduation may receive FAS and FMS by completing a graduation application .
Summer Bright Futures Top 5 FAQs
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Who is eligible to receive summer funding?
Bright Futures Florida Academic Scholars and Bright Futures Florida Medallion Scholars may receive funding for all summer sessions if they are enrolled in at least six credit hours and have remaining credit hours of eligibility. -
What sessions are included in the summer term?
All sessions offered by the institution during the summer term will be included (summer A, B, C, 8 and 10 week). -
May Bright Futures scholars enrolled in less than six credit hours be funded?
Bright Futures scholars enrolled less than six credit hours may only be funded if they are enrolled in the remaining courses required to finish their degree or if they are being disbursed the last remaining credit hours of Bright Futures eligibility. Students should complete the online graduation application to be reviewed for remaining Bright Futures eligibility.
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May transient students receive summer Bright Futures funding?
Yes. Bright Futures scholars who are degree-seeking students at UNF during the current academic year and attend another institution during summer may receive funding if the coursework is approved by the home institution (UNF). Bright Futures scholars enrolled in a public post-secondary institution must submit a Transient Student Admission Application located online at Florida Shines. More information can be found on the Financial Aid Transient Enrollment webpage.
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May transfer students receive summer Bright Futures funding?
Yes. Bright Futures scholars who are degree-seeking transfer students at UNF during the summer term are required to select UNF as their preferred institution on Florida's Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) website for Term 6 of the current academic year. For further assistance on how to do that, please call OSFA Customer Service at 888-827-2004.
Renewal and Reinstatement / Restoration
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 academic year. Renewal students must meet the GPA and earned credit hour requirements on all college coursework attempted, including transient enrollment credit hours.The student may request the exclusion of dual enrollment courses completed while attending high school from the GPA, if needed, to meet requirements.
Reinstatement and Restoration
An eligible student who did not receive funding during the prior academic year and would now like to apply for scholarship funding is a reinstating student. A student is eligible to apply for reinstatement up to five years from high school graduation. If a student does not meet the scholarship’s GPA requirements, they may be eligible to apply for a one-time restoration — but only if the failure to renew occurred at the end of the student’s first year of funding.
Repayment for Dropped or Withdrawn Courses
Institutions are required to adjust Bright Futures awards when a student withdraws or drops one or more classes after the Add/Drop period ends.
- Students whose awards are already disbursed will owe the funds back to UNF for classes that are withdrawn and/or dropped.
- Failure to pay back the University will result in loss of future eligibility for Bright Futures.
- Repayment for the cost of dropped and/or withdrawn courses is required to renew a Bright Futures award for a subsequent academic year.
- Students who repay before the end of the spring term are automatically reported as repaid to OSFA. Students who pay after the spring term ends must submit a Scholarship Action Request Form to request.
Scholarship Appeals Procedures
Students who did not meet GPA or earned credit hour renewal requirements due to extenuating circumstances may submit an Enrollment Services Appeal. Supporting documentation of extenuating circumstances beyond the student's control which prevented meeting renewal requirements must be uploaded as part of the Appeal. Documentation must tie to each term renewal requirements were not met.