On Friday, Archer Ross will graduate high school with part of his college tuition already paid for.
“I was very excited when I found out about the scholarship,” said the Viera High senior, who earned the dean’s scholarship at Syracuse University. “I think I actually woke my friend up with my celebration on the way back from a field trip. It was late, and he had fallen asleep, but I think I turned and woke him up in my excitement.”
Archer’s scholarship will cover $10,000 a year at Syracuse, where he plans to study forensic science. The cost of attendance for students living on campus was estimated at about $85,214 for the 2023-2024 school year.
How students got scholarships – and the dollar amount attached to them – varies widely. For some, like Archer, it was as simple as applying to their preferred university and getting a scholarship based on their grades. For others, it was a matter of applying to local scholarships, like The Democratic Women’s Club of Central Brevard and Space Coast Runners.
FLORIDA TODAY reached out to high schools around the county about the scholarships their students have received. Eleven schools provided data such as how many students received scholarships, where the scholarships were from and the amount of funding the scholarships equated to.
Edgewood Jr./Sr. High School in Merritt Island reported the most funds from scholarships, with students receiving more than $7 million dollars in scholarship funds. That figure excludes any funds students received from Bright Futures, according to the school’s principal, Jacqueline Ingratta.
Three students are National Merit Scholars, and two received appointments to West Point, Ingratta said, adding that most graduating seniors will attend four-year universities or two-year colleges.
West Shore Jr./Sr. High School reported the second highest figure, with Principal Rick Fleming saying students had received about $6.4 million in funding. He expected that figure would reach about $10 million by the end of the year.
In total, 11 high schools reported more than $28,296,198 funds in scholarships.
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West Shore Jr./Sr. High School in Melbourne reported the most scholarship recipients, saying nearly all of their 138 graduating seniors had received scholarships.
Seven students were named National Merit Scholars, Fleming said. He added that 121 seniors were eligible for Bright Futures, with 61 of those students receiving 100% of their tuition, while 60 will receive 75% of their tuition.
Students received scholarships from a variety of local, state and national sources.
Some Sunshine State colleges, universities and training academies that offered scholarships to Brevard students included Florida State University, University of North Florida, Florida Atlantic University, University of South Florida, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, Florida Tech, Eastern Florida State College, and Cocoa’s fire and police academies.
Some students received scholarships for out-of-state schools, including Rochester Institute of Technology, Paine College, Marion Military Institute, Kean University, Colorado State University, University of Southern California, Clemson University, Vanderbilt University, Penn State and Kent State University.
Numerous other sources contributed to Brevard students’ scholarships, including Bright Futures, Alpha Phi Alpha, Zeta Phi Beta, Space Coast League of Cities and Jess Parrish Medical Foundation.
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Each scholarship source has a different deadline. It’s a good idea for high schoolers to start researching and applying for scholarships between their junior and senior year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
For Bright Futures, all eligibility requirements must be met by the date of a student’s high school graduation, though SAT, CLT, ACT and PERT tests taken through Aug. 31 are accepted for evaluations. They also must complete a Florida Financial Aid Application no later than Aug. 31 following graduation to be eligible for a scholarship.
Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at fwalker@floridatoday.com. X: @_finchwalker.
