The way Florida Pre-pay and Bright Futures works is the colleges are notified of the amount of scholarships the kids are eligible for. At the end of their Senior year they fill out the forms for the Bright Futures and then they send the colleges their final transcripts in the summer to verify what they qualify for. The colleges also get a list from Florida Pre-pay, so they are aware of how much they will be covered, plus if they fill out the FASFA, students are notified in April of any additional money they qualify for. The tuition is not normally due until the beginning of September, however the housing is due the beginning of August, but you can ask for a deferment. Therefore if they have Florida pre-pay, Bright Futures and any other federal money, the out-of-pocket fee for in- state students is very minimal. Many kids end up getting money refunded which they can use for books or apply to whatever they need. There are actually students that pocket money every semester because of all the scholarship money they qualified for!  So you do not get less Bright Futures or FASFA money if you have Florida Pre-pay.
 
If the Florida student decides to go out-of-state they do not get the Bright Futures Scholarship, but if they come back to Florida I believe they have up to 4 years from the time they graduate to use it (subject to change each year) and for Florida Pre-pay you may get the money back you put in either lump sum, or they will apply the in-state credit amount they give to the out-of-state school!
 
Also a new rule with Bright Futures is if you fall below the minimum GPA (3.0 or 2.75 depending on the scholarship you were awarded), you only have until the end of the year to bring that GPA up, or you lose the scholarship for good now. It's a lot more pressure for the kids because it used to be once they brought the GPA up, they could reapply and get the scholarship back.
 
For help in finding further scholarship opportunities, go to the Scholarship Links on this website .