Report on Future Solutions for the Continuation of Florida Bright Futures

Prepared for the Florida College Democrats

Spring Conference 2010
Gainesville, Florida April 9-11

An Introduction by FCD Bright Futures Task Force Chair David Mariutto

Hello Florida College Democrats, and thank you for taking part in the
consideration of this important initiative for our organization and students across the
state. Over the past semester, students from Miami to Tallahassee participated in the Task
Force’s first phase of action—the development of a platform and policy proposals for the
convention’s consideration. This process was taken very seriously. All the proposals
contained herein did not come about simply because we thought they would be a good
idea. They are backed by professional data from OPPAGA, the state of Florida’s CBO, if
you will. Data from OPPAGA, the Florida Office of Student Financial Assistance, the
College Board, and other sources were used to not only develop the framework for
change, but determine the specific GPA’s, SATs and class ranks we proposed as well.

Our mission from the get-go was to offer a strong, alternative policy to the
destructive, harmful cuts proposed annually by the Republican controlled legislature.
While legislators have tried to offer other alternatives, they often rely heavily on changes
that adversely affect racial minorities, such as large increases in standardized test score
requirements.

When developing alternatives, we asked ourselves: what solutions can we propose

that will not cut rewards for current students or heavily discriminate against minorities,
and save money, all while retaining as many recipients on the rolls as possible? This is
not an easy task, as our state spent an additional $113 million this year in federal stimulus
funds just to keep Bright Futures running, on top of lottery revenues. That’s $113 million
dollars worth of scholarships, which, unfortunately, must go away if we would like to
continue the program within the means of the lottery.

To that end, we created a new Bright Futures—one that is largely unrecognizable

from the structure we currently have. Each component of the new Bright Futures passed
the Task Force unanimously, with zero objections or nay votes from members, even those
that were not on the call for a vote.

While I, unfortunately, cannot be here in person to answer any questions you may
have, one of our most active members, Michael Santana of FIU, is acting in my place
during the convention. Please see him with any questions you may have about the
enclosed proposals. With that, I leave the rest to you!

Democratically Yours,
David Mariutto
Item 1: Qualifying Structure

The structure for qualifying for a Bright Futures scholarship would consist of 5 tiers, each
of varying reward amounts. These rewards would be percentage-based and cover ALL
tuition and fees, including differential tuition.

1.) 3.0 GPA. 1000 SAT or equivalent ACT. Worth 100% of tuition at any
Florida community college. If the recipient receives an AA, he/she is
eligible to upgrade to reward level 2 of he/she chooses to continue to
a university.

2.) 3.0 GPA. 1100 SAT or equivalent ACT. Worth 25% of tuition at any
Florida Public institution, or equivalent amount at any in-state private
institution. Alternative to the SAT/ACT score, a student may place
within the top 20% of his/her class.

3.) 3.25 GPA. 1200 SAT or equivalent ACT. Worth 50% of tuition at any
Florida Public institution, or equivalent amount at any in-state private
institution. Alternative to the SAT/ACT score, a student may place
within the top 15% of his/her class.

4.) 3.5 GPA. 1250 SAT or equivalent ACT. Worth 75% of tuition at any
Florida Public institution, or equivalent amount at any in-state private
institution. Alternative to the SAT/ACT score, a student may place
within the top 10% of his/her class.

5.) 3.75 GPA. 1300 SAT or equivalent ACT. Worth 100% of tuition at
any Florida Public institution, or equivalent amount at any in-state
private institution. Alternative to the SAT/ACT score, a student may
place within the top 5% of his/her class.

Probably the most significant change in these initial standards, aside from the additional
tiers, is the addition of a class rank component. This component is intended to act as a
“safety net,” of sorts for students who are simply bad test-takers, but have demonstrated
significant academic success in the classroom. The requisite class rank to substitute an
SAT/ACT score in levels 2-5 are structured in such a way that they are approximately 5%
higher than the percentile of the test score. For instance, in level 3, the top 20% of
students in the country typically score a 1200 SAT. If a student fails to reach such a
score, but is in the top 15% of his/her class, the SAT/ACT requirement is waived. This
new structure is remarkable in that it raises standards, prevents grade inflation, and
minimizes inequality between different ethnicities when it comes to the number of
students affected.
Item 2: Renewal GPA

The GPA students would be required to maintain in college will, in most cases, rise:

Level 1- 2.75
Level 2- 3.0
Level 3- 3.0
Level 4- 3.0
Level 5- 3.25

When developing these new requirements, it was important to take into account that some
majors are more difficult than others, and result in lower GPAs for those students. Of
course, we would not want to discourage high-achieving students from pursuing these
more-difficult degrees by making renewal standards unnecessarily high. Currently, the
minimum GPA for a Florida Medallion Scholar (formerly the 75% scholarship) is a 2.75.
Under this proposal, all university-level students receiving Bright Futures will be
required to maintain a 3.0 GPA, with Level 5 recipients being held to a higher standard of
3.25.

While there is no statewide data available, at the University of Central Florida, the
average GPA is a 2.9.