TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – An upcoming change in guidelines for Bright Futures Scholarships will disproportionately shut out minority students from the popular program, The Gainesville Sun reported.
The change, which takes effect July 1, will require graduating high school seniors to earn scores of 1170 or better on the SAT or 26 or better on the ACT to qualify for Bright Futures.
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The Sun story was based on an analysis conducted by the University of South Florida. That analysis showed the new standards would prevent thousands of students from getting the scholarships.
"If left alone, it's going to be devastating, particularly on certain racial and ethnic groups, and unevenly distributed across the state universities," Robert Spatig, USF assistant vice president of admissions recruitment and enrollment planning, told the Sun. "And it's not going to go to those performing the best in high school, just those who perform best on the ACT or SAT."