Bright Futures Renewal, Reinstatement, and Restoration

Renewal

A student who receives funding during the current academic year is automatically evaluated for renewal at the end of the spring term and does not need to submit a renewal application. The annual renewal process requires Florida State University to report a student's GPA and hours earned to the Office of Student Financial Assistance at the Florida Department of Education who then determine whether renewal eligibility has been met. 

Students who do not meet the annual minimum GPA requirement in their first year of funding will be permitted a one-time restoration in a subsequent summer or academic year renewal period. Students who do not meet the minimum earned hours requirement or who fail to meet the minimum GPA requirement after their first year of funding will not be permitted a restoration opportunity. 

Grade Point Average (GPA) Requirement

Students must maintain the grade point average below by award type to meet renewal requirements.

Annual Credit Hour Requirement

The annual credit hour renewal requirement measures how many credits a student must earn based on that student's enrollment type per term. In general students must earn the hours that they were funded for-- students do not need to take 12 hours per term. The table below shows sample scenarios but does not represent all possible scenarios. Students can use the interactive Bright Futures Credit Hour Interactive Tool provided by the Office of Student Financial Assistance, or Florida State University's simplified Renewal Calculator to review individual scenarios. 

Renewal Into a Different Scholarship Type

Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) with a 2.75-2.99 GPA at the end of the renewal period will renew as Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS). If the GPA is improved above a 3.0 in a subsequent renewal period, the student will restore as an FAS, using the one-time restoration opportunity.

A student who earns the FMS award may not renew to the FAS award. 

Reinstatement 

Students who did not receive funding during the previous academic year and now want to utilize their scholarship funding is a reinstating student. A student is eligible to apply for reinstatement for up to five years from high school graduation. 

Applying for Reinstatement

• A student must complete a Reinstatement / Restoration Application after logging into their online OSFA account.
• The deadline for submission of the Reinstatement / Restoration Application for both fall and spring of the year in which the student is seeking funding is May 30. However, OSFA recommends that applications be submitted online by July 1 for a timely fall disbursement or by December 15 for a timely spring disbursement.
• If eligible for reinstatement, the student will receive the Bright Futures award for which they were last eligible prior to reinstatement.

Restoration

Restoration is the process by which a student who did not meet renewal eligibility requirements can appeal to have their scholarship reinstated under limited circumstances. 

• A scholar who loses eligibility due to exceptional circumstances (medical, mental health, etc.) may complete a State appeal. 
• A scholar who did not meet at least the 2.75 GPA renewal requirement, but DID meet the credit hour renewal requirements during the first year of funding has a one-time opportunity to restore the scholarship. If a student that has a restoration opportunity fails to restore the GPA, the attempt is still available after future academic years until a successful restoration is achieved, or until the 5-year limit has been reached. 
• A scholar who was initially eligible for an FAS award, but renewed to FMS award eligibility due to earning a GPA between 2.75 - 2.99, has a one-time opportunity to restore to FAS. If a student that has a restoration opportunity fails to restore to FAS, the attempt is still available after future academic years until a successful FAS restoration is achieved, or until the 5-year limit has been reached. 
• A scholar who was initially eligible for an FAS award and met the credit hour requirement, but lost award eligibility due to earning a GPA below a 2.75 during the first year of funding, may seek to restore their award in the following ways: A scholar earning a GPA of 3.0 of higher will result in a successful restoration to FAS award eligibility. No further restoration opportunities will be allowed. 
• A scholar earning a GPA between 2.75 - 2.99 will result in a successful restoration to FMS award eligibility without an opportunity to restore as an FAS.  If a one-time restoration opportunity has already been used for an FAS scholar, an earned GPA between 2.75 - 2.99 in a future year will result in the scholar renewing at the FMS level without an opportunity to return to FAS award eligibility. 
• Restoration requirements can be satisfied by using one of the following options:
  • Take summer classes that can be applied toward your cumulative GPA based on Florida State University's institutional policies and request that the Office of Financial Aid submit a summer grade and hours update to Bright Futures office indicating the adjusted cumulative GPA and hours; or
  • Raise cumulative GPA above the renewal requirement before the fall term for which the student is seeking funding and submit a Reinstatement/Restoration Application. 
• A student who fails to meet the minimum earned hours requirement in any academic year renewal period will not by permitted a restoration opportunity.

Appeals

If a student fails to meet renewal requirements due to exceptional circumstances (medical, mental health, etc.) they may appeal through FSU's online State Appeal process. Information on the Appeal process may be found here -- https://financialaid.fsu.edu/completing-appeal-forms.