FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 24, 2015
Contacts: Colin Seeberger, colin.seeberger@
Sarah Lovenheim, sarah.lovenheim@
New Report Calls for Florida to Prioritize Financial Aid Towards Low-Income Students
Report Calls for Reconciling Tuition Increases with Boosting Need-Based Aid by Nearly $90 Million
[Tallahassee, Fla.]–On Tuesday, Young Invincibles will release The Case for Need-Based Aid In Florida, a brief exploring the deficiencies in Florida’s financial aid system. The report recommends that lawmakers make an additional $90 million investment in the Florida Student Assistance Grant this session so funding for Florida’s need-based grants keeps pace with the 67 percent increase in tuition Florida’s 4-year public universities have realized since the Great Recession.
“We share Governor Scott’s and the Florida Legislature’s commitment to making college more affordable. But we have to spend our limited resources efficiently. To do that, we need to target aid to students who wouldn’t go to college without the aid,” said Tom Allison, Policy & Research Manager at Young Invincibles. ” The research is clear: awards targeted to students based on their financial need are more effective in improving enrollment rates and student success.”
15 percent of Florida’s higher education funding goes toward state financial aid, more than half of this funding goes to the Bright Futures scholarship – a merit-based aid program that directs resources disproportionately to wealthier families. Roughly one-quarter of financial aid funding is based on financial need.
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