Parents of college students receiving Bright Futures scholarships will likely pay more out of pocket next year as state lawmakers try to save the program from increasing budget cuts.
A budget approved today by the state Senate Higher Education Appropriations Committee will have Bright Futures pay the same amount per credit hour next year as it is now. At the same time, however, state colleges and universities will be allowed to raise tuition.
Similar changes are underway in the House of Representatives.
Committee Chairman Evelyn Lynn, R-Daytona Beach, said Bright Futures will lose about $6 million because Floridians are spending less on the lottery, one of the scholarship's main sources of funding.
At the same time, more students are expected to be getting the scholarships next year.
Lynn said she understands many parents will be angry about having to shoulder more of their children's tuition, especially in a slumping economy. But the state, looking at an overall $3 billion shortfall, can't afford to cover tuition increases.
"Parents have to make a decision," Lynn said. "Do they want us to find a way to save Bright Futures, or do they want to lose it altogether?"
The committee budget allows state colleges to increase tuition up to 8 percent next year; universities can raise their tuition by up to 15 percent. Each school will decide how much, if any, to increase tuition.
The proposed increase to students and their parents would have been worse if not for $73.9 million in federal stimulus money. The federal grant, which will go away next year, allowed the committee to increase funding for Bright Futures by $31.4 million. The rest of the federal money will be used to cover additional student enrollment in the program.
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