ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida’s popular Bright Futures scholarship program may be behind a debatable ruling that left the state as the only one in the country to insist that academics take act or SAT tests from the pandemic to apply for admission to public universities.
Ally Schneider, a board member overseeing Florida’s 12 public universities, said Board of Governors staff told him the state was reluctant to waive the SAT/ACT requirement this year because academics who wish to qualify for scholarships will have to submit scores.
“It’s so tied to the fabric of higher education in Florida that other people hesitate not to demand the effects of admission tests when required for Bright Futures,” said Schneider, also president of the student government at the University of North Florida, who under pressure not to speak on behalf of other board members.
More than 110,000 academics relied on Bright Futures scholarships last year, many of whom attended public universities.
None of the other 15 members of the Governing Council, most of whom are appointed through the governor, would email questions about why they refused to lift the standardized rule. One led a reporter for President Syd Kitson and Chancellor Marshall Criser. requests for comment.
Other state universities across the country “optional test” this year, temporarily postponing the requirement for applicants to submit scores, as many exam sessions were canceled in the spring and summer as the pandemic was unleashed. But Florida has maintained the rule, even as parents, academics, and admissions managers at state universities have asked for help.
Criser said at a board meeting last month that he expected thousands of academics to take the tests in the coming weeks, adding in the sessions where they are administered free of charge.
“We’re tracking this very conscientiously because we obviously realize that an available seat in Panama City doesn’t necessarily solve a challenge for a Miami-Dade County student, so we need to make sure the exams are state-old,” he told me.
The SAT is the most popular front-level college exam for Florida academics and more than 125,000 checks were administered state-round this fall on national and school check dates, Governors’ Board spokeswoman Renee Fargason wrote in an email to Sentinel. the check, plans to administer thousands more exams until early December.
The board also asks universities to increase the number of students to submit the qualifications required for admission, if possible. The University of Florida recently announced that it will extend its admission deadline from November 1 to November 16, and Florida State University has announced that it will settle for the accounts until December 31.
Unlike state college admission situations, which are part of council policy, Bright Futures scholarship eligibility rules, which cover up to one hundred percent of tuition and fees at state universities, are set forth in state law. to win those prizes is expected to accumulate this year. For the highest price, for example, academics should get an overall score of 1330 issues in the reading and math sections of the SAT, compared to 1290 in previous years. until June 30 of the year, the entire high school to download those grades.
SAT and ACT check scores have long played a key role in the Florida school admissions process. Recently, state admissions managers said they were getting fewer programs compared to previous years. They attributed the drop, in part, to the fact that students may simply not take the school’s initial exams or who are nervous about being exposed to the virus exam sessions. It is not known whether academics are delaying their application to scores, whether they are applying to personal or out-of-state public universities that have taken a ‘voluntary verification’ technique this year, or if they plan to enroll in schools with open admission policies such as the College of Valencia.
University of Florida admissions officials, as well as parents and academics, have asked the state to renounce the check score requirement, at least temporarily. Shelly Helmbrecht, whose daughter is an elderly user at Oviedo High School, said that even academics, when taking the check, missed the opportunity to re-take the exams after their studies, which disadvantaged them for college admissions and Bright Futures scholarships.
“Most of them have tried like us and it’s been canceled several times,” he said. “It’s so different from any year. “
Her daughter, who considers the University of Florida as the “school of her dreams” and also nominees to Florida State University, the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida, attended the SAT in early March, just before schools and highest states, preventing the spread of coronavirus The teen studied with a tutor to improve her scores , but then was frustrated by not re-reviewing the summer when verification sessions were canceled.
Florida’s refusal to abandon the check requirement has led some families to travel long distances to involve their children in exam visits. Lori Citrenbaum moved from Florida to Virginia eight years ago, but her children have plans from Florida Prepaid College. Your eldest son is at the University of Florida, and his middle son, now a top student, also needs to move to Gainesville. However, she struggled to locate an open SAT consultation in Virginia. So, in late August, after getting a spot at a site in Seminole County, the circle of relatives headed south for her daughter to simply take the test here, a long car adventure that she felt was obligatory if her daughter also applied, as planned, to the UF. like many other Florida universities.
Citrenbaum believes Florida deserves to stay with the rest of the country and give up scores at least this year, especially if you need applicants from other states. “I know a lot of other people who say we only apply in optional check schools,” he said. Most children don’t care about the check. “
But many academics at Florida’s top schools intend to apply for public schools in the state, including Bryan Green’s son David, a senior at Land o’Lakes High School in Pasco County, whose first selection is also from the University of Florida. Zoom consulted two weeks ago with admissions officials at state universities, who apologized for qualifying admission scores.
“Sorry for you,” officials told the families who heard the call, Green said.
David took the SAT and ACT before this month, his only move before the UF application deadline.
“We’re a little worried. Obviously, UF is very competitive and probably in the bubble in terms of the results of his controls,” Green said, adding, “It would have been a merit for him to get it back. “
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