Incentive to stay in state sways most students

Florida's highest-achieving high school seniors could attend nationally recognized liberal arts colleges, top public universities, even elite Ivy League schools.

But most stay right here in Florida.

The reason: Florida Bright Futures scholarships.

They can get most or all of their tuition and fees paid for with the merit-based Bright Futures, cutting their annual costs in half and leaving them with just living expenses.

"We have a plethora of students who really have opportunities to go to schools out of the state, but it's hard to turn down Bright Futures," said Caro Massari, a guidance resource specialist at Plant High School in Tampa. "They come to realize they are getting a great education in Florida."

The Legislature created Bright Futures in 1997 after observing that top high school seniors were flocking to out-of-state schools because of a lack of financial incentives to stay in Florida.

"Bright Futures really seals the deal," said Matthew Hulett, admissions director at the University of West Florida in Pensacola. "A student doesn't have to leave the state."

Since the late 1990s, admissions directors say the number of students enrolling at Florida public universities has increased dramatically.

About 13 percent of Florida high school students who plan to attend college now go to out-of-state schools. The state does not have similar statistics prior to 1997.

St. Petersburg High School senior Sommer Perry applied to four in-state schools where she could use a Bright Futures scholarship. She will receive $4,760 when she attends the University of Florida next year.

"Why go anywhere else when you have such a great school here?" asked Sommer, 17. "It's too much money."

About 86 percent of last year's freshmen class at UF was on Bright Futures. At Florida State University, it was 74 percent.

"We know we're second choice for a lot of folks," said Bill Kolb, UF's admissions director. "But once they come here, they are satisfied academically."

Kolb and his colleagues encourage students to attend their schools for their undergraduate degrees and save their money for graduate school.

Now, students who maintain a B average in high school and score 970 on the SAT can earn an award that pays 75 percent of their tuition and fees.

University administrators say those requirements are too easy and have lobbied the Legislature to raise them. But students are opposing any changes.

Lawmakers have talked for years about cutting the program, either by reducing the number of eligible students or capping the awards. But they fear a political backlash.

The cost of Bright Futures is taking its toll on the state budget, though. Many legislators and educators say the state can't afford it much longer.

When Bright Futures began seven years ago, 43,000 university and community college students received $75-million. In 2002-03, 107,000 recipients received more than $200-million.

And the numbers keep going up.

The lottery-backed scholarships are among the most generous in the nation. Similar programs exist in other states, including West Virginia and South Carolina.

Georgia was one of the first states to establish lottery-funded scholarships. Earlier this year, Georgia lawmakers rescued the financially strapped HOPE scholarship program by raising the academic requirements.

Bright Futures makes it harder for other Florida students who want to go to a state university but aren't at the top of their class. With so many high-achieving students remaining in state for financial reasons, other students are finding fewer spots available at a time when the number of college-bound students is exploding.

Competition is so fierce that the average grade-point average for new freshmen at UF is essentially a 4.0. It's just as high at New College in Sarasota, the state's smallest school, with fewer than 1,000 students.

Some education officials say those trends indicate the Bright Futures scholarships are working.

"Its purpose was to prevent brain drain from the state," said Dewey Holleman, the admissions director at the University of South Florida. "We need to keep our students here. We think it's doing its job."

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