Research · Scholarships - Florida · October 2026

Florida Bright Futures requirements for students graduating in 2027

As of October 2026: Florida students graduating in 2027 need a 3.50 weighted GPA, a 1330 SAT or 29 ACT, and 100 service hours for Florida Academic Scholars, which pays 100% of tuition and the fees the state lists at a public college. Florida Medallion Scholars asks for a 3.00 weighted GPA, a 1190 SAT or 24 ACT, and 75 volunteer hours, and pays 75%.

The table holds the four Bright Futures awards and the bar each one sets for this graduating class. It does not cover the renewal rules that apply once a student is in college.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

What each Bright Futures award requires

One row per award, in the order the state handbook lists them.

These are the initial eligibility minimums for Florida students graduating in the 2026-2027 school year, as the state handbook prints them. A blank test score means the award sets no composite: Gold Seal Vocational uses minimum scores on single ACT, SAT or PERT sections, and Gold Seal CAPE requires no test score at all. Minimums change from one graduating class to the next.

The rules behind the numbers

One row per published rule, with the state document that states it.

Each row is one statement from the 2026-2027 Bright Futures handbook or the state's own eligibility chart. The value column is the figure or rule as the document states it, not our reading of it.

How the test score is counted

Bright Futures does not need one strong sitting. The SAT and CLT scores are built from the best section scores across any sitting that counts. The ACT uses the highest score in each subject area, and a student may test as many times as they like.

The calendar is the hard part. Tests have to be taken on or before August 31 of the graduation year, which is August 31, 2027 for this year's seniors, and mid-year graduates have until January 31. The Florida Financial Aid Application is due by that same August 31 date, and a student who misses it cannot receive the money at all.

The two Gold Seal awards do not fit the same table

Gold Seal Vocational Scholars and Gold Seal CAPE Scholars are career and technical awards, and their rules are a different shape. Gold Seal Vocational sets minimum scores on single sections of the ACT, SAT or Florida PERT, and those sections cannot be added into one composite the way the other two awards work. Gold Seal CAPE has no test score at all. It asks for five postsecondary credit hours earned through industry certifications that carry college credit.

The dollars are shaped differently too. The handbook states Academic and Medallion funding as a share of tuition and fees rather than a rate per credit hour, so there is no single per-credit figure for those two awards. The Gold Seal awards do carry one: $39 a semester hour for the shorter programs and $48 a semester hour for associate and some bachelor's programs.

What a family should do with this

Start with the hours, because they are the part that runs out of time. A rising junior with none logged still has two summers. A senior with most of them already done does not. Log hours as they happen, with the dates and a supervisor's name, and log paid work the same way.

Then look at the gap between the two score bars. A student sitting at a 1190 SAT already clears Medallion, and the climb to the 1330 that Academic Scholars asks for can come from one strong section on a later test, because the state adds the best sections together. File the Florida Financial Aid Application in the spring of senior year, long before the deadline, because the application is what turns eligibility into money.

Related: Florida high schools and the Bright Futures calculator · Which colleges require the SAT or ACT · College application deadlines for fall 2027 · Test Prep Gurus explainers