TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The debate in Tallahassee about the future of Bright Futures Scholarship has a lot of graduating seniors and college students unsure of how they will pay for school.
Bright Futures covers up to 100% of tuition at a Florida public university, roughly more than $6,000 a year. If lawmakers vote to change the way it pays out, a lot of families will need to find other ways to finance higher education.
First and foremost, fill out the FAFSA. It's based on your family's income and will recommend grants that won't need to be paid back as well as work-study. But the biggest tip is to seek out any and all scholarships.
"About two or three years ago, there was a $20,000 scholarship for King High School students. One student applied for that scholarship and she received that $20,000 scholarship because she didn't have any competition," said College and Career Counselor Mesha Stubbs.
If you are exhausted of all the "free money" avenues, there are subsidized loans where no interest accrues until six months after the student leaves school.
Unsubsidized loans start accruing interest as soon as the student takes out the loan.
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