ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida's popular Bright Futures Scholarship program could be behind a controversial decision that has left the state as the only one in the country insisting students sit for ACT or SAT tests during the pandemic in order to apply for admission to public universities.
Ally Schneider, a member of the board that oversees Florida's 12 public universities, said Board of Governors staff have told her the state is reluctant to waive SAT/ACT requirement this year because students who want to qualify for the scholarships must still submit scores.
"It's so tied up in the fabric of Florida higher education that people are hesitant to not require test scores for admission when it's required for Bright Futures," said Schneider, also the student government president at the University of North Florida who stressed she wasn't speaking on behalf of other members of the board.
More than 110,000 students relied on Bright Futures scholarships last year, a large share of them attending public universities.
None of the 15 other members of the Board of Governors, most of whom are appointed by the governor, would answer emailed questions about why they refused to lift the standardized test rule. One directed a reporter to Board Chair Syd Kitson and Chancellor Marshall Criser. Neither responded to requests for comment.
Other state universities across the country have gone "test-optional" this year, temporarily suspending the requirement for applicants to submit scores because many exam sessions were canceled during the spring and summer as the pandemic raged on. But Florida has kept the rule, even as parents, students and the admissions directors at the state's universities, have asked for relief.
Criser said during a board meeting last month he expected thousands of students to take the tests over the next several weeks, including during in-school sessions where they're administered free of charge.
"We're watching this very carefully because we realize, obviously, that a seat available in Panama City doesn't necessarily solve a problem for a student in Miami-Dade County so we want to make sure those exams are available statewide," he said.
The SAT is the most popular college entrance exam with Florida students and more than 125,000 tests have been administered throughout the state this fall during both national and in-school test dates, Board of Governors spokeswoman Renee Fargason wrote in an email to the Sentinel. The College Board, which makes the test, expects to administer thousands of more exams between now and early December.
The board also is asking universities to extend students' deadlines to submit the required scores for admission, if possible. The University of Florida announced recently it is extending its admissions deadline from Nov. 1 to Nov. 16 and Florida State University has said it will accept scores through Dec. 31.
Unlike admissions requirements at state universities, which are part of board policy, the eligibility rules for the Bright Futures Scholarships, which cover up to 100% of tuition and fees at state universities, are spelled out in state law. The SAT scores needed to earn those awards are set to increase this year. For the top award, for example, students will need to score a total of 1330 points on the reading and math sections of the SAT, up from 1290 in previous years. Students have until June 30 of the year they graduate from high school to earn those scores.
Scores from the SAT and ACT tests have long played a key role in the admissions process at Florida's universities. Recently, admissions directors across the state said they were receiving fewer applications compared with previous years. They attributed this decline, in part, to students not being able to take the college entrance exams or being nervous about being exposed to the virus during exam sessions. It's unclear whether students are delaying their applications until they receive scores, they are applying to private or out-of-state public universities that have adopted a "test-optional" approach this year or they are planning to enroll at schools with open admissions policies like Valencia College.
Florida university admissions officers, as well as parents and students, have asked the state to waive the test score requirement, at least temporarily. Shelly Helmbrecht, whose daughter is a senior at Oviedo High School, said even students who have been able to test have lost opportunities to retake the exams after studying, putting them at a disadvantage for both university admissions and Bright Futures scholarships.
"Most of them tried like we did and were canceled multiple times," she said. "That's so different from any other year."
Her daughter, who views the University of Florida as her "dream school" and is also applying to Florida State University, the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida, took the SAT in early March, just before schools and most of the state, shutdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The teenager studied with a tutor to improve her scores but then was frustrated that she couldn't test again over the summer when test sessions were canceled.
Florida's refusal to drop the test requirement has led some families to travel great distances to get their children into exam sessions. Lori Citrenbaum moved to Virginia from Florida eight years ago, but her children have Florida Prepaid College plans. Her oldest is at the University of Florida and her middle child, now a high school senior, wants to go to Gainesville, too. She's struggled to find an open SAT session in Virginia, however. So in late August, after snagging a spot at a site in Seminole County, the family drove south so their daughter could take the exam here, a long road trip they felt necessary if their daughter was to apply, as planned, to UF as well as several other Florida universities.
Citrenbaum thinks Florida should follow the rest of the country and waive scores at least this year, especially if it wants applicants from other states. "I know a lot of people who are like, we're only applying to test-optional schools," she said. "Most of the kids are really not bothering with the test."
But many Florida high school seniors only intend to apply to in-state public schools. That includes Bryan Green's son David, a senior at Land o' Lakes High School in Pasco County, whose top choice is also UF. Green said he listened to a Zoom session two weeks ago with admissions officers from the state universities, who were apologetic they had to require the scores for admission.
"We feel for you," the officers told families who listened to the call, Green said.
David took the SAT and ACT earlier this month, likely his only shot before UF's application deadline.
"We are a little concerned. Obviously, UF is very competitive and he is probably right on the bubble when it comes to his test scores," Green said, adding, "It would have been to his benefit to take it again."
