N AV I G A T I N G Y O U R F I N A N C I A L F U T U R E | F L O R I D A D E PA R T M E N T O F E D U C AT I O N

NAVIGATING YOUR

FINANCIAL FUTURE

Published by the Florida Department of Education, Office of Student Financial Assistance

September 2018

Stay, Stop or Drop?

Your education has the potential to be one of the most important investments in your life. It can be difficult to balance work, finances, and academics. Situations may occur that are beyond your control and interfere with your pursuit of a higher education. When making a decision, weigh all of your options before deciding to stay, stop or drop. When difficulty arises, there are key staff members on campus who can assist you in exploring your options. Staff members can assist you in finding a solution to continue pursing your educational goals and dreams. Contact the staff members in any of the departments listed below:

Academic Advisors Financial Administrators Student Services Counselors

If you decide to stop or drop, contact your financial aid office to discuss the impact on your current and future financial aid eligibility. You must also determine if you will be expected to return any financial aid funds.

N AV I G A T I N G Y O U R F I N A N C I A L F U T U R E | F L O R I D A D E PA R T M E N T O F E D U C AT I O N

CONTACT US

Need assistance with

financial aid information?

Contact OSFA’s

Outreach Services.

Pete Hernandez

Pedro.Hernandez@fldoe.org

850-245-1821

Restoration Requirements

A one-time restoration opportunity is available under limited circumstances. A Bright Futures, Florida Medallion Scholar (FMS) who did not meet at least the 2.75 GPA renewal requirement, but DID meet the credit hours renewal requirement during the first year of funding has a one-time opportunity to restore the scholarship. Renewal is determined at the end of spring term each academic year. A Bright Futures, Florida Academic Scholar (FAS) who dropped to FMS award eligibility due to not meeting the 3.0 grade point average (GPA) requirement for FAS has a one-time opportunity to restore to FAS. Students seeking to use their one-time restoration opportunity should verify their home institution’s policies concerning how cumulative

GPAs are calculated. The cumulative GPA for Bright Futures is unrounded and unweighted to two decimal places. Restoration requirements can be satisfied by using one of the following options: Take summer classes that your

institution will apply towards your cumulative GPA based on their institutional policies (or fall term classes for spring/summer cohort students) and request that the financial aid office submit a summer grades and hours update to the Bright Futures office indicating the adjusted cumulative GPA and hours; or

Raise your cumulative GPA above the renewal requirement before the fall term (or spring term for spring/summer cohort students) for which you are seeking funding.

An eligible student who did not receive funding during the previous academic year and would now like to apply for scholarship funding is a reinstating student. If a student did not receive award funding in the academic year immediately following high school graduation, the student must apply within two years of high school

graduation to reinstate the award. For more information about reinstatement and restoration, review the Bright Futures Student Handbook—Chapter 3. The Bright Futures website is located at the following link, www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/bf/bfmain.htm

Florida Bright

Futures

Scholarship:

Reinstatement and

Restoration

Applying for Reinstatement or Restoration

A student must complete a Reinstatement/Restoration Application available on the Bright Futures website . The academic year for which a student is applying is at the top of the application.