by Miami college counselor Mandee Heller Adler, founder of International College Counselors

Lawmakers are preparing to make the Bright Futures scholarship more difficult to get and keep. This will happen if a proposal made Tuesday in a Florida Senate budget committee wins favor.

The legislation is an effort to close a $3 billion budget hole.

The Bright Futures college scholarship program was originally designed to pay full tuition costs for top-performing university and state college students.

Changes under consideration this year:

— Increasing the academic standards to qualify for the scholarships, from a 1270 SAT score to a 1290 by 2013 for the top award and from 970 to 1050 for the secondary award.

— Prohibiting students from renewing their Bright Futures scholarships if they lose their eligibility.

— Requiring students to use their scholarships within four years, as opposed to the current seven-year limit.

— Reducing the number of credits covered by Bright Futures from 110 percent of a program’s requirements to 100 percent.

— Maintaining Bright Futures at its current level of $126 per credit hour, essentially making it ‘flat’ award –even though tuition could rise as much as 15%,

— Requiring students to fill out a federal student aid form when applying for Bright Futures scholarships. It would give the state access to financial information on Bright Futures students and their families.

According to The Miami Herald, nearly 185,000 students are attending college with help from the scholarship. More than 95 percent of students at University of Florida use Bright Futures, as do the majority of those studying at FSU.

The changes would make the scholarship more competitive and leave less wiggle room for students who want to take extra classes, said state Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach and head of the Senate’s budget committee.

In contrast to the Senate’s budget team’s sweeping overhaul of the Bright Futures program, the head of the House’s budget committee proposed a simpler change: a 6 percent cut in funding for the scholarship. This means up to $450 less for Bright Futures students next year.

The college advisors at International College Counselors have extensive knowledge regarding the Bright Futures Scholarship. Whether you live in Orlando or Miami, college counselors at International Counselors are available to help you. Please contact us with any questions you may have.

International College Counselors

Main office: 954.253.5719

Mandee Heller Adler

mandee@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Barry Liebowitz

barry@internationalcollegecounselors.com

International College Counselors provides expert college counseling on undergraduate and graduate college admissions, financial aid, tuition, essays, and college applications. Mandee Heller Adler, college admissions consultant and Founder of International College Counselors tailors her college counseling and college coaching services to address the goals, needs, and dreams of each student. Our college advising company works with domestic and international students. Let us help you make the best decisions in choosing, getting into, and paying for college.

Seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen: Free money is available from a variety of sources and offered as scholarships. What makes these money trees even more attractive is that you won’t need to repay the money.

However, you do have to work to earn your “pay”. The first step is finding the right scholarships for you. The second step is applying to them.
Scholarships are available from a variety of sources, including federal and state governments and private sources, such as employers, corporations, professional associations, and educational institutions.

Some scholarships are based on financial needs. Others are awarded to students with special abilities qualified as academic, artistic, or athletic achievement. Still more are reserved for people who have certain religious affiliation, ethnicity, memberships, hobbies, or special interests. Some, scholarships, like the scholarship essay offered by International College Counselors, require an essay. Others require illustrations. Then there is a spate of unusual scholarships that I’ll also get to.

HOW TO FIND SCHOLARSHIPS & APPLY FOR THEM
You don’t have to look farther than your computer to find scholarships to apply to. Several free scholarship databases are available online, offering millions of different scholarships worth billions of dollars. International College Counselors recommends the scholarship database FastWeb.com. It’s large, most often accurate and frequently updated.

Our college advisors also recommend searching for scholarships using a web search engine. Include the word “scholarships” in your search keywords and see what comes up.

Scholarships can also come with unusual eligibility requirements, such as a scholarship for left-handed students. There aren’t many of them, but it doesn’t hurt to see what may be out there. Start by typing “unusual college scholarships” into the search engine. Then use keyword combinations to match your “specialties” with the word “scholarships”. A few examples of the more esoteric scholarships out there:

Chick Evans Caddie Scholarships
For all of you who spent summers lugging bags across greens: Each year, the Western Golf Association awards scholarships to more than 200 student caddies. Among other things, scholarship winners must demonstrate excellent academics, financial need, exceptional character and, naturally, a strong caddie record.

The Duck Brand Duct Tape “Stuck At Prom®” Contest
Contest participants must enter as a couple (two individuals) and attend a high school, home school association or other school-sanctioned prom held in the spring, wearing complete attire and/or accessories made from Duck brand duct tape and submit a photo of yourselves to their website. Ten finalists are selected and visitors to the site then vote on them. First prize is a $3,000 scholarship and some cash for the event hosting school. This year, the Prom Contest starts on March 1, 2010.

Eileen J. Garrett Scholarship
The Annual Eileen J. Garrett Scholarship of $3000 is designed to assist a student attending an accredited college or university who wishes to pursue the academic study of the science of parapsychology.

International College Counselors Tip: If you have to pay money to get scholarship money, it’s probably a scam. Scholarships that sound too good to be true usually are.

Of course, the most prestigious scholarships attract the most attention because they are among the most lucrative and competitive awards. Many colleges also offer full tuition academic scholarships. There are also many school and community specific scholarships, and scholarships for Hispanic and Latino students.

Florida students should not forget to apply to the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program. The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program provides scholarships based on high school academic achievement. Now is the time to apply.

College advisors know that scholarships pay off in other ways as well. They get you free money, AND look good on your college applications.

Next week, I’ll write about How to Apply for Scholarships.

APPLY FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE COUNSELORS SCHOLARSHIP NOW. All students in 9th through 11th grade are eligible to participate.

http://internationalcollegecounselors.com/index_essay.html

Mandee Heller Adler and the expert International and Miami college counselors are available for questions.

Hi Seniors,

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship program is currently accepting applications. As a reminder the Bright Futures program offers three levels of scholarship awards- the Florida Academic Scholars award, the Florida Medallion Scholars award and the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award. Basic requirements and dollar amounts for each of these awards can be found here.

To apply for a Bright Futures Scholarship, you must submit a completed (error free) Initial Student Florida Financial Aid Application during your last year in high school (after December 1 and prior to graduation). YOU MUST APPLY DURING YOUR LAST YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL- BEFORE GRADUATION- or you will forfeit all future eligibility for a Bright Future Scholarship.

To apply on line, visit www.FloridaStudentFinancialAid.org , select “State Grants, Scholarships & Applications” and click “Apply Here.” Then you can click “Initial State Student Application” to go directly to the application.

The application gives the Florida Department of Education permission to evaluate your high school transcript and test scores for eligibility for state scholarships and grans, including a Bright Futures Scholarship. You may apply prior to meeting all requirements.

NOTE- YOU SHOULD APPLY for a Bright Futures Scholarship even if you are considering not going to college, are planning to go out of state, are taking a few years off, or are enlisting in the military. Eligible students have up to three years from high school graduation to begin using the scholarship.

To qualify for a Bright Futures Scholarship, you must earn the minimum required test score for the award for which you wish to qualify. It may make sense to re-take your SAT or ACT just to reach the minimum.

The college advisors at International College Counselors are available to help you. Please contact us with any questions you may have.

International College Counselors
Main office: 954.253.5719

International College Counselors provides expert college counseling on undergraduate and graduate college admissions, financial aid, tuition, essays, and college applications. Mandee Heller Adler, college admissions consultant and Founder of International College Counselors tailors her college counseling and college coaching services to address the goals, needs, and dreams of each student. Our college advising company works with domestic and international students. Let us help you make the best decisions in choosing, getting into, and paying for college.

At International College Counselors in Miami, college counselors Mandee Heller Adler and Barry Liebowitz say that  parents and students counting on The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program for the 2009-10 academic year need to take notice of the new changes that have come as a result of The 2009 Florida Legislative Session.

The changes to Bright Futures will affect both incoming freshmen and students who started in Florida state schools after fall 2006.

Among other changes, the Program will NOT raise funds to cover the tuition hikes coming this fall.

This means that the FAS award (100%) now covers a fixed amount of $126 per semester hour no matter what Florida schools you attend. This will NOT cover the entire tuition any more. It will not cover the tuition differential nor the 15% increase for the coming year. The difference in cost will need to be covered by students.

Florida Prepaid and other forms of financial aid can be used to cover the costs.

On the website, the word “IMPORTANT” is next to this change:
Students who drop or withdraw from a class paid for by Bright Futures will now have to repay the state the same amount Bright Futures awarded the student per credit hour if the class was dropped after drop/add period. The only exceptions will be based on a verifiable illness or emergency beyond the student’s control. In the past, Florida students have had the ability to drop classes with no penalty other than receiving a W on their transcripts.

According to its web site, Bright Futures will also discontinue the allowance that covered textbooks and other college related expenses.

You don’t have to be a college advisor to know that the students who receive financial aid could potentially be hit the hardest. Depending on a student’s income and the income of his or her parents, the student might not receive enough aid to cover the new costs. If students think they are going to need aid, they should apply early to get the best financial aid package.

The state will be mailing information regarding the changes to the Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship Program to parents of Florida students this fall. To see the updated information go to the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program official website at:

http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/ssfad/bf/

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact the Bright Futures office toll-free at 1- 888-827-2004

If you have any other college admissions questions for a college counselor, I’d be happy to answer them. I work with international students (9 countries and counting!) as well as those in the U.S. Please write me here or at my personal email which can be found on my International College Counselors college counseling website.

Mandee Heller Adler, Founder and Principal of International College Counselors

www.internationalcollegecounselors.com

By the way, my college advising company is opening a new branch of International College Counselors in NYC so now you can visit our college advisor NYC as well.