Florida College Program Sounds Great!

[Feralpeg]

I recently moved from Missouri. The money from the Missouri Lottery was supposed to be used to help Missouri schools. I could never see where it was being used. Such a waste.

This past week, I enrolled DD for high school in Florida. The couselor went over a program called "Florida Bright Futures". The program is totally funded by the Florida Lottery. It sounds like a great program.

If a student finishes high school with a weighted GPA of 3.5, completes 15 credits (4 English, 3 Math, 3 Natual Science, 3 Social Science, 2 Foreign Language), completes 75 community service hours and gets either a 1270 SAT or 28 ACT, the state lottery fund will pay 100 percent of the students college tuition and fees.

If the student finishes with a weighted GPA of 3.0, completes the same 15 credits mentioned above, no community service and either a 970 SAT or 20 ACT, the state lottery fund will pay 75 percent of the students college tuition and fees.

What a great program. DD only nees to complete her 2 Foreign Language credits and do well on the SAT/ACT and it will save me a ton of money for her college tuition. She currently has a 3.985 GPA, so I doubt that it will be a problem. Since I recently retired, this will be a great help financially!

Do any other states offer a similar program?

 

[OhMari]

I think California does.

I live in Wisconsin and we are told each Wisconsin resident that attends a university or technical school has $7,000 paid a year for their education. You don't actually see the money, but they claim it would cost you $7,000 more a year if you didn't receive this tax credit.

Anyway, if you want to go to the University of Wisconsin Madison, with tuition and room and board and fees, someone said it is around $14,000.

If you go to a 2 year campus first, tuition is around $2,400 a year, then you have to transfer to a 4 year campus. The cheapest University is in Oshkosh WI, which is running around $10,000 a year.

Our lottery is giving us property tax breaks of around $84 a year.

 

[TigerBear]

That is actually amazing! I'm assuming the tuition and fees is for a state school in Florida?

 

[themepark]

WOW! Tennessee just started a lottery so only time will tell what exactly happens with all the money that is supposed to go to education. I can't stop thinking "Wow!" about FL paying 100% tuition. Hmmmm...This is more of reason to move to FL before our kids get in high school. We have entertained the thought many times, and this sure is an incentive.

 

[tar heel]

I'm amazed you moved to Florida without knowing about Bright Futures, but what a nice surprise for you. Georgia also has something like this.

 

[AeroKiss13]

I wish I lived there. I sure wouldn't be paying for college, and neither would my parents. We're on A+, I'm sure you know about that, Feralpeg, just moving from MO.

 

[kylara]

If anyone wants more information this is the web page for Bright Futures. If you are moving here and have children, it is a good place to get your information.

http://www.firn.edu/doe/brfutures/index.html

I would also suggest if you children are HS age and have high grades, that you look into the dual enrollment program. This program allows HS students to take college level classes at the community college or even at the HS if there are enough qualified teachers to teach the classes there. I know at Valencia (the Orlando/Kissimmee Community College) we are graduating more dual enrolled students with AAs the same time they are getting their HS diploma each year.