Bright Futures Scholarships
Your Academic Achievement Could Be Rewarded
Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program is a scholarship program, funded by the Florida Lottery, to reward Florida high school graduates for high academic achievement. Florida Academic scholars are eligible to receive an award amount equal to 100% of tuition and mandatory or applicable fees. Applicable fees could include activity and service, health, athletic, financial aid, capital improvement, campus access/transportation, technology and tuition differential fees. This process is for Florida Virtual High School students only. FLVS Flex (individual courses) homeschool students have a different process to follow and should contact their counselor to learn more.
Eligibility
To be eligible to receive one of the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Awards a student must:
- Be a Florida resident.
- Earn a standard high school diploma.
- Be accepted and enrolled in an eligible Florida public/private post-secondary school.
- Enroll for at least six semester credit hours.
- Complete community service or paid work hours.
- Not have been found guilty of a felony.
- Apply for the scholarship in the last semester before graduation and complete an error-free Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is no longer required, but highly recommended.
The program offers four levels of scholarship awards:
Community Service or Paid Work Hours
To be eligible to receive one of the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Awards a student must complete community service or paid work hours. Students must complete the required number of community service, paid work hours, or the combination of 100 total hours. Service hours/paid work hours must be completed with an agency, company, organization, or business.
| Scholarship | Community Service Hours Required | Paid Work Hours Required | Combination of Community Service/Paid Work Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Academic Scholarship (FAS) | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Florida Medallion Scholarship (FMS) | 75 | 100 | 100 |
| Gold Seal CAPE (GSC) | 30 | 100 | 100 |
| Gold Seal Vocational (GSV) | 30 | 100 | 100 |
Community Service
Community Service is defined as identifying a social issue in the community. This requires students to look beyond themselves and reach out to an issue faced by our society (i.e. poverty, abuse, elderly citizen rights). These hours will meet the requirement for the Florida Academic Scholars, Florida Medallion Scholars or Gold Seal Vocational scholarships. See the Florida Virtual High School Community Service or Paid Work Handbook for additional information.
Volunteer Service
Volunteer Service is defined as assisting where needed and does not necessarily address a social issue. Although these hours are not recorded on the transcript, students can keep a log of these activities for use when applying for college, job applications, awards and scholarships but may not be used for Bright Futures. Only Community Service hours, as defined above, meet the requirement for Bright Futures.
Paid Work Experience
Paid Work Experience is defined as a job where students earn a weekly or biweekly paycheck and are able to document their work experience through timecards, W-2 statements, or pay stubs. Paid work hours will be recorded on the transcript for the student.
Completing and Documenting Community Service or Paid Work Steps
Step 1
Carefully read through the Florida Virtual High School Community Service or Paid Work Handbook.
Step 2
Students determine where they want to complete their community service/ paid work hours.
Step 3
Complete the Community Service or Paid Work Approval Form and submit to your school counselor BEFORE any hours are completed.
Step 4
Complete your service/work hours. Document your hours and reflect on your experience using the Community Service or Paid Work Log and Reflection Form.
Step 5
Collect any and all necessary documentation and signatures from the organization where the hours take place. Please note that you will need to complete one form for each organization you provide service/work hours for.
Step 6
Submit the Florida Virtual High School Bright Futures Community Service or Paid Work Log and Reflection Form to your school counselor prior to high school graduation.
Bright Futures Online Application
For information regarding Bright Futures requirements, please contact the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program. 1-888-827-2004 or Bright Futures website.