Florida Legislature To Change Bright Futures Program

Miami FL

18 March, 2021

8:19 AM

Description

Miami Times Staff Report Mar 16, 2021 The merit-based Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, available to high-achieving students and awarded with no income considerations, will likely see some changes courtesy of the Florida Legislature. A student-led opposition campaign has stopped the worst from coming, but lawmakers are still expected to pass a controversial Senate proposal that would tie Bright Futures scholarships to a list of degrees that are determined to lead to jobs. The measure (SB 86) was tabled last week before it was set to be considered by the Senate Education Committee. Its sponsor, Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, told reporters at the time that he was receiving "a lot of different inputs" on the proposal, which he said left him wanting to "hit the brakes." The original bill made state college and university students ineligible for Bright Futures scholarships if they enrolled in degree programs that don't appear on a list of "approved" areas of study. Students without chosen degree programs would be eligible to have 60 hours of coursework covered by the popular scholarship program. But the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday is expected to consider an amendment that would make significant changes to the bill. Under the amendment filed by Baxley, Bright Futures scholarships would be "reduced," not nixed, for students who don't choose an academic discipline deemed promising for job prospects. Baxley sent a letter to members of the committee Monday outlining some of the changes. "Rather than creating a list of degrees that lead to jobs, the bill creates a list of degrees that DO NOT lead to jobs. Students who select a degree or program of study that the BOG has determined will not lead to a job will receive a reduced (not eliminated) scholarship amount," Baxley wrote, referring to the state university system's Board of Governors. The amended plan would require the Board of Governors, the State Board of Education and the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida to maintain such lists. The change tying Bright Futures eligibility to the lists would go into effect during the 2023-2024 academic year. The amendment would also require the Board of Governors to develop an online dashboard featuring data on graduates of various fields of study. The dashboard would have to include information such as median salary after graduation, average student loan debt and debt-to-income ratio. "My hope is that the research will show that all, or most degrees our institutions of higher learning are offering do lead to jobs. But if there are degrees out there that don't, I believe we have a moral obligation to let the student know," Baxley wrote to the committee. The amendment modifies part of the original bill that would reduce the amount of credit hours Bright Futures recipients would be eligible for if they earned college credits through an "acceleration mechanism," like AP or International Baccalaureate classes in high school. House Minority Co-Leader Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach, criticized the proposal as "an awful idea." The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.