Changes as a result of the 2009 Florida Legislature Session. The following are the key points that you should know about:
1)The educational expense allowance of $375 that was built into the Florida Academic Scholars award has been eliminated.
2)Award amounts will be paid per credit hour: Florida Academic Scholars at $126 and Florida Medallion/Gold Seal Vocational Scholars at $95. In the past, private schools were given a fixed award amount based on half-time, three quarter-time, and full-time enrollment.
3)Requires full-time students to earn at least 24 credits, or a prorated number of credits for less than full-time students. Currently, all students were required to earn 6 credits for each funded term.
4)Requires schools to return funds to the Florida Department of Education when a student drops or withdraws from a course after the drop/add period. The student will be required to reimburse the school as a condition of renewal eligibility. Currently, we do not return funds once the student begins attendance in a course.
5)Students who have used the 90 maximum credits of eligibility under the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV) cannot renew as a Florida Medallion Scholar (FMS) which permits 132 credits of eligibility. Currently, students can transfer from GSV to FMS when they have used 90 credits.
Adjustments will be made to the affected student records as soon as possible and the packaging rules updated to reflect the changes. An e-mail notice will also be sent to the students. The Florida Bright Future awards will be based on 12 credits and adjusted for actual credits at the end of drop/add when the enrollment download is done. The NSU Bright Future Scholarship will be adjusted accordingly to ensure students receive 100% tuition funding.