Canadian Healthcare from a Canadian...

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I've heard of that program and I absolutely love it. I'd be fine with paying more taxes to subsidize those kinds of programs.

The beauty is: it's funded entirely by the Florida lottery!

[BigSKINBauer]

Originally Posted by GhettoDogAllStars

In Florida, there is a program called Bright Futures. Any high-school student who meets the following criteria receives 75% tuition paid for any school in Florida:

Merit Scholarship-
1.) Meet attendance requirements
2.) 3.0 or greater cumulative high-school GPA
3.) 970 or better on the SAT

In addition, if you meet this criteria you receive 100% tuition paid, plus $600 per semester for other expenses (i.e.: books):

Full Academic Scholarship-
1.) Meet attendance requirements
2.) 3.5 or greater cumulative high-school GPA
3.) 1270 or better on SAT

The program will pay your tuition for up to 6 years, or 140 credits. It's probably the best education program in the state of Florida, and possibly the whole nation.

I moved to Florida after my Junior year in high-school, and since I met the requirements, I qualified for the Merit Scholarship. I don't have my Bachelor's degree yet, but I did get 118 college credits and only had to pay 25% tuition, plus books. I worked full-time and went to school at night. It was a great opportunity. Of course everyone is granted a high-school education for free, and if you perform there you will have most of your college tuition paid for (if not all of it) -- your income bracket is irrelevant. Poor people have the opportunity to go to college for free in Florida. Literally.

Note: I might be off 10 or 20 SAT points, and the Scholarship might not be 140 credits, but it's definitely really close to that. They also change the rules every now and then, but the basic idea doesn't change: poor people have the opportunity to get a college degree for free (or close to it).

What the f... Full scholarship for getting a 1270? Well i guess i should have lived in florida. Seriously, just about everyone at my high school broke a 1270

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by BigSKINBauer

What the f... Full scholarship for getting a 1270? Well i guess i should have lived in florida. Seriously, just about everyone at my high school broke a 1270

Yeah. I think the 3.5 GPA might be a bigger obstacle. But, I don't think they want to make it too difficult. After all, they are trying give as many kids a chance at free college as they can. If you do an average to good job in high school, then you get the scholarship.

Also, the primary education curriculum in Florida is mostly a joke. Kids struggle to get 3.0 GPAs, and most of them have a hard time passing the standardized test (FCAT). I was pretty shocked when I got there. During my Senior year, we didn't study a single thing that I hadn't already studied during my previous years in Texas. I just breezed right through that year, but isn't that how your Senior year is supposed to be?

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by GhettoDogAllStars

Yeah. I think the 3.5 GPA might be a bigger obstacle. But, I don't think they want to make it too difficult. After all, they are trying give as many kids a chance at free college as they can. If you do an average to good job in high school, then you get the scholarship.

Also, the primary education curriculum in Florida is mostly a joke. Kids struggle to get 3.0 GPAs, and most of them have a hard time passing the standardized test (FCAT). I was pretty shocked when I got there. During my Senior year, we didn't study a single thing that I hadn't already studied during my previous years in Texas. I just breezed right through that year, but isn't that how your Senior year is supposed to be?

Wait, so they just give tuition money to any kid who does well in GPA and SAT? Are there any maximum household income cutoffs? Does the tuition money only apply to state schools??

I'm just dumbfounded that a state could afford to give money to ALL good students, regardless whether their families are rich or poor, and regardless of where they plan to attend college.

I went to a public school in PA, had a 3.95 high school GPA, a 1380 SAT, never got in trouble, but my parents made more than $150,000 between them. Would I have qualified for free tuition if I did that in a Florida high school???

I just can't believe that, there has to be some kind of limitation. With the money my parents made, there's no reason we needed the help.

[MTK]

Do you guys realize how horrible the public school systems are in Florida? It's no wonder they have college programs like this, sure it sounds great but I really wonder how many kids qualify.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Wait, so they just give tuition money to any kid who does well in GPA and SAT? Are there any maximum household income cutoffs? Does the tuition money only apply to state schools??

I'm just dumbfounded that a state could afford to give money to ALL good students, regardless whether their families are rich or poor, and regardless of where they plan to attend college.

I went to a public school in PA, had a 3.95 high school GPA, a 1380 SAT, never got in trouble, but my parents made more than $150,000 between them. Would I have qualified for free tuition if I did that in a Florida high school???

I just can't believe that, there has to be some kind of limitation. With the money my parents made, there's no reason we needed the help.

I'm pretty sure there are no income restrictions. My parents also made over 150K between them, and I got the scholarship.

Yes, the money only applies to schools in the state of Florida. However, it applies to all of them. You can go to public or private, but if you choose private you don't get near as much tuition money. They say it's 75% or 100%, but the way they figure it is by comparing the private school to an equivalent public school, and then they give you the percentage of that public school's tuition costs.

For example, I was first considering attending the University of Tampa, a private school. They would only offer me about 2K per year, which was only about 10% of the tuition. So, I decided to go to USF, and because it's a public school they pay the straight up percentage of your tuition.

Lab fees are not included in the scholarship, and there are credit requirements. In the summer you have to take 6 credits or more to receive the funding, and in the spring and fall you have to take 12 credits. However, if you skip a semester, or don't meet the credit requirements, they don't take the scholarship away from you. You just don't get the money for the semesters you don't meet the credit requirements.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Do you guys realize how horrible the public school systems are in Florida? It's no wonder they have college programs like this, sure it sounds great but I really wonder how many kids qualify.

Yes, the public schools for primary education in Florida are terrible. Like I said, it was a shock to me when I got there. Coming from Texas, a place with great education, I was like a big fish in a small pond.

However, it's a completely different story regarding secondary schools. Of course you know there are top-notch colleges there (UF, FSU, UM, USF, etc.)

The average primary school student in Florida is, sorry to say, not very academic. I'll bet the percentage of students taking advantage of the scholarship is much lower than it would be in most other states if they had similar programs.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

The funny thing about it is, you don't need to go to school in Florida for any specified period of time (that I know of). I only went to school in Florida for one year, and I received the scholarship. It's possible you could just transfer in your last month, and still receive the benefits, provided you meet all the academic requirements. That's something that should change, IMO -- if it hasn't already.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by GhettoDogAllStars

I'm pretty sure there are no income restrictions. My parents also made over 150K between them, and I got the scholarship.

Yes, the money only applies to schools in the state of Florida. However, it applies to all of them. You can go to public or private, but if you choose private you don't get near as much tuition money. They say it's 75% or 100%, but the way they figure it is by comparing the private school to an equivalent public school, and then they give you the percentage of that public school's tuition costs.

For example, I was first considering attending the University of Tampa, a private school. They would only offer me about 2K per year, which was only about 10% of the tuition. So, I decided to go to USF, and because it's a public school they pay the straight up percentage of your tuition.

Lab fees are not included in the scholarship, and there are credit requirements. In the summer you have to take 6 credits or more to receive the funding, and in the spring and fall you have to take 12 credits. However, if you skip a semester, or don't meet the credit requirements, they don't take the scholarship away from you. You just don't get the money for the semesters you don't meet the credit requirements.

Damn, that's a pretty amazing program.

Any knowledge as to why the public school system sucks so bad down there? I'm just curious.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Damn, that's a pretty amazing program.

Any knowledge as to why the public school system sucks so bad down there? I'm just curious.

I agree, it's a great program. I wish it would be implemented on a national level. The only problem is that it would increase taxes. In Florida the program is funded by the lottery, and since we don't have a national lottery, that wouldn't be an option. Of course, if it were implemented on a national level, there would most certainly be income restrictions -- which wouldn't be a bad thing considering tax dollars would fund it.

I'm not really sure why the public schools suck. I've heard that the funding for each school is based on their academic performance. So, it seems schools have an incentive for boosting GPAs. Tough curriculum = lower GPAs = less funding. I don't really have a credible source for that information, it's just hearsay. But, I think it was a teacher who told me that.