University of South Florida researchers saw it coming three years ago. They predicted stricter standards imposed by state lawmakers on Bright Futures scholarships would reduce awards to black and Hispanic students.

Give those researchers a degree in clairvoyance.


As the Sun Sentinel recently reported, the number of black students receiving the lottery-funded scholarships plunged 74 percent from the 2012 to the 2016 school years at about 100 high schools in three counties: Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade. The number of Hispanic students receiving the merit-based awards plummeted 64 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of white students at the schools receiving Bright Futures awards also fell, though not quite as precipitously, by about 50 percent. It's reasonable to assume the impact on these three groups was similar across Florida.

Rep. George Moraitis, a Fort Lauderdale Republican, told our reporter that before lawmakers toughened the requirements for Bright Futures, the scholarships had become too easy to obtain and the program had grown too large. So he and a majority of his legislative colleagues voted in 2011 to require students to score higher on ACT and SAT tests to qualify.

But studies have found black and Hispanic students tend to score lower than white students on standardized tests, in part due to higher poverty rates. More minority students grow up in homes with fewer books and other sources of educational enrichment. They are underrepresented in gifted and talented classes, according to the U.S. Department of Education. They can't easily afford to take preparatory courses or buy books to boost their test scores, or take the tests more than once.

Any policy that makes higher education less accessible isn't just tough on the affected groups. It's tough on the state's economy, which needs more college-educated workers to attract more high-wage jobs and boost Florida's tax base.

Lawmakers created the Bright Futures program in 1997 to encourage the state's top students to stay in Florida. Its "A" award originally covered full tuition and fees at public universities, but now pays for about half. It's "B" award once covered 75 percent of tuition and fees, but now covers about a third.

Students who can't afford full tuition but can't qualify for a Bright Futures scholarship must use other strategies to fill the money gap. Those might include jobs that take time from studying and keep them in school longer to earn their degrees, and loans. Graduates who enter the working world weighed down by debt face a greater challenge finding jobs where they can earn enough to keep up with their loan payments and establish independent lives. The limits imposed by debt on their spending power also can be a drag on the state's economy.

To their credit, lawmakers have taken some positive steps to make higher education more affordable in recent years. At the urging of Gov. Rick Scott, they've kept a lid on tuition. Their restraint has slashed the cost of the Florida Prepaid College Plan.

Joe Negron, the Stuart Republican in line to become state Senate president for the next couple of years, has proposed investing an additional $1 billion into higher education during his term. Negron told the Sun Sentinel he doesn't plan to lower the Bright Futures standards, but he does want the state to spend more money on need-based aid and free test prep classes.

Given the negative impact on minorities — and Florida's economy — of the scholarship changes, that sounds like the least lawmakers can do.