Bright Futures

Florida Bright Futures

Florida Academic Scholars Legislation 

For your reference, the current statutory language is provided below as it relates to the Florida Academic Scholars award (s. 1009.534, F.S.).

The student must complete a program of volunteer service work, as approved by the district school board, the administrators of a nonpublic school, or the Department of Education for home education program students, which must include a minimum of 75 hours of service work for high school students graduating in the 2010-2011 academic year and 100 hours of service work for high school students graduating in the 2011-2012 academic year and thereafter. The student must identify a social or civic issue or a professional area that interests him or her, develop a plan for his or her personal involvement in addressing the issue or learning about the area, and, through papers or other presentations, evaluate and reflect upon his or her experience. Except for credit earned through service-learning courses adopted pursuant to s. 1003.497, the student may not receive remuneration or academic credit for the volunteer service work performed. Such work may include, but is not limited to, a business or governmental internship, work for a nonprofit community service organization, or activities on behalf of a candidate for public office. The hours of volunteer service must be documented in writing, and the document must be signed by the student, the student’s parent or guardian, and a representative of the organization for which the student performed the volunteer service work .