Please see your School Counselor before doing any Volunteer or Paid Work Hours. All proposals must be approved.
LCSD Bright Futures Guidelines for Volunteer Service and Paid Work Hours.pdf
Link to Estero Student Services. Here you will conveniently find the Bright Futures Scholarship information and more!
Bright Futures Scholarship Application (link)
Checklist for Bright Futures Scholarship
✔Complete the Bright Futures Scholarship application – this is actually called the Florida Financial Aid Application or FFAA. *Application opens October 1st -- takes 10 minutes -- FFAA Reference/Instruction Guide link
Two steps: (1) Create profile and (2) answer 5 questions to see if you qualify for additional grants/scholarships.
✔Must submit your Bright Future Volunteer/Work Hours paperwork to your school counselor. Get hours approved prior to completing hours. Link to Estero High School BFS Hour Documentation Process in pdf. *Recommendation: submit BFS hours paperwork to counselor by December 1, 2023.
✔Graduate high school – your high school transcript will be sent to Bright Futures AFTER you graduate, which is officially May 31, 2024.
✔Earn your AICE Diploma
Bright Futures Scholarship Application (Florida Financial Aid Application - FFAA) opens October 1st
All seniors need to complete the Florida Financial Aid Application. This is well-known as the "Bright Futures Scholarship" application, however, there are other state-funded scholarships and grants available and the FFAA is the application that must be completed as part of the eligibility process.
TIME to complete application: 10 minutes
Information you will need: Social Security Number & other personal contact information
Review the FFAA Reference Guide for step by step instructions - in the AICE 2024 Google Classroom under Bright Futures application post.
NOTE: Enter your social security number in the PROFILE section, even though there isn't an asterisk (*) by SSN. This is how they match you with your records, so make sure it is correct. The most common error as to why funds are delayed is due to incorrect ss#.
Do not complete FLE ID -- your SS# is best. If you submit the social security number incorrectly or not at all, this will create a huge error and will extra time on your part to correct. BE SURE YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER IS 100% CORRECT.
Reminders: use your personal email address, not school email address
save your login credentials for your BFS (FFAA) application
save confirmation emails received
Bright Futures Information and Your AICE Diploma Process
If you are reliant on the AICE Diploma for Bright Futures Scholarship, it may not show up until mid to end of September of your first year in college, even if you earned the AICE Diploma in 11th grade.
The list of all graduating seniors that are AICE Diploma candidates or recipients is sent to Cambridge International in January of the graduation year. Once the June 2024 scores are released in August,
The Bright Futures “final evaluation” may not change until after August 31st, because that is the final evaluation deadline and Bright Futures does not update daily; BFS updates 3 times/year. The status will change from Ineligible to Eligible or from FMS (75%) to full FAS (100%), once Bright Futures updates. This may take until the second week of September. Then, it is disbursed to the institutions on a rolling basis.
If you are worried about it covering tuition and not being dropped from your college classes, you need to speak with your college registrar’s office. They will either defer payment, require tuition payment in full and reimburse you, or hold your check. Each school has a different plan for dealing with it and each one changes annually. Therefore, you need to check with your institution’s financial aid office.