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Bright Futures Devouring Lottery

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By ADAM EMERSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 22, 2008

Updated: 02/21/2008 11:57 pm

The growth of Florida's popular Bright Futures scholarship is far outpacing increases in lottery education money that pays for the award.

For the past seven years, Bright Futures payments have grown by nearly 165 percent, while lottery funding for education grew at less than a fourth of that rate, according to a Tampa Tribune analysis.

Without alterations, some state leaders fear, lottery money that would go to other areas of education, such as public school construction, will have to be diverted to pay for the scholarships. One possibility, they say, is to change the criteria for the scholarships to award fewer of them.

"I don't have anything against Bright Futures," said former state Sen. Les Miller, who sits on a state commission that's considering changes to the scholarship. "What I have a problem with is its escalating costs. It's breaking the bank."

But many object to changing any part of a scholarship that currently bankrolls the education of nearly 150,000 college and university students at a cost of $347 million.

Every year, lawmakers and university presidents try to tweak the way the state pays Bright Futures scholarships. Every time, they fail. The scholarship's political popularity, lawmakers argue, is bulletproof.

Now the state faces a $2 billion shortfall, however, and people such as Miller argue the scholarship is too expensive to maintain in its current form and could end up consuming most of the lottery education money.

The state university system chancellor on Thursday told the board that oversees Florida's 11 public universities that the state must change Bright Futures to ensure it doesn't take away money from students who need it. The state awards the scholarships to students based on their grades and test scores.

The chancellor, Mark Rosenberg, argues that the state fails to pay enough money to low-income students who need financial aid.

"Changing Bright Futures is the only way to save it," Rosenberg said.

But state Senate President Ken Pruitt, perhaps Bright Futures' strongest proponent in the Legislature, says Rosenberg and the state universities' Board of Governors are trying to erode the scholarship's effectiveness.

Universities have long argued that lawmakers are reluctant to raise tuition annually because they'll have to increase the payout for Bright Futures. Rosenberg and university leaders argue that tuition remains too low because of that relationship.

"The overwhelming majority of parents and students in our state do not support cutting Bright Futures, and neither do I," Pruitt told the Tribune in an e-mail.

Despite the momentum from those who seek to change it, it's unlikely that anything will happen to the scholarship this year, said Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, who sits on the senate's higher education committee.

"Bright Futures is a very powerful and popular program," Constantine said. "Whenever you have something ingrained in the system, you have to be very careful about what tweaks you make."

The Promise Of Money

The Legislature created the scholarship in 1997 and promised to fund it from lottery revenue earmarked for education. Bright Futures covers 75 percent of tuition and fees for students who have a 3.0 high school grade point average and earn an SAT score of 970. Students get 100 percent reimbursement if they earn a 3.5 GPA and 1270 SAT.

Over the years, the scholarship has consumed more of the lottery's education money, which funds school construction, K-12 school operations, state university and other financial aid.

In 2000, the Bright Futures award took up about 15 percent of the lottery education trust fund. Last fiscal year, it made up 24 percent of the lottery's education payouts.

"Left alone, we project that the total lottery revenue will be consumed by Bright Futures within seven years," said Jade Moore, a member of the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, which is examining the scholarship's viability.

Lottery revenue increases every year, as do payments to the lottery's education trust fund. But revenue transferred to the trust fund has increased by only 39 percent since 2000. Bright Futures payouts increased 163 percent, and the number of students receiving the scholarship increased by 109 percent.

According to Florida Lottery figures, overall lottery expenses have increased at a faster rate than revenue largely because of the increased costs paid to vendors who help sell tickets, said Leo DiBenigno, the Florida Lottery secretary.

The share of money paid to the education trust fund also has decreased. Several years ago, the trust fund made up 38 percent of the lottery's expenses. Today, it's 31 percent.

The lottery has paid more into prize payouts, and recently announced a bigger Lotto jackpot to players who spend more on each ticket. Lotto sales have been slumping.

"I could hope that players buy lottery tickets for the primary and sole purpose for funding education in the state," DiBenigno said in an interview this week. "As nice as that would be, the bottom line, it's not true. Players buy lottery tickets to win money."

Proposed Changes

Miller, who sits on the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission with Moore, wants to revamp the way Florida pays financial aid entirely, erasing the set-up that's skewed to awarding money based on students' merit.

Miller has proposed awarding 45 percent to merit-based scholarships; 35 percent to need-based scholarships; and no more than 20 percent on other financial aid, such as state grants to students who attend private schools.

The commission has yet to consider Miller's proposal, but if it agrees to the plan, the commission can bypass the Legislature and send the measure directly to voters.

Rosenberg also is proposing changes to include more need-based financial aid. In speaking to the Board of Governors on Thursday, he said tuition increases should not depend on how much is being paid to Bright Futures. That could allow the Legislature to cut back on Bright Futures funding and spend more on need-based scholarships.

Next week, the Board of Governors plans to launch a blog inviting public comment on the ideas before it pitches them to lawmakers.

In the end, it's up to the Legislature to make changes to Bright Futures. And one legislator recently learned what happens when a change is proposed.

State Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, last month filed a bill that would increase the Bright Futures payout to students majoring in "high-need" areas, such as science, technology, engineering, nursing and education. It would reduce the award to students studying other subjects, such as those in the liberal arts.

A University of Florida student formed a group on the popular social networking Web site Facebook objecting to the proposal. To date, nearly 20,000 people have joined the group in opposition to Ring's measure.

The senator has since backed down. As soon as he's able, he has promised to amend his bill so that no student would receive less.

"We will look to other revenue streams to fund the incentive program," Ring said. "No student will lose any of their Bright Futures grant for choosing another academic major."

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

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