Florida budget spares over 20,000 state-funded college scholarships

More than 20,000 Florida students will still be able to attend their private university on state-funded scholarships after funding for the scholarships was spared in the budget.

Earlier in the session, legislators were considering scaling back funding for the Effective Access to Student Education, or EASE, grant program to save money.

Students will still receive their $3,500 dollar scholarships to attend 15 private and religious universities in the state, according to the new fiscal year budget.

Keiser University Chancellor Art Keiser said he is celebrating this win for his students. His school would have been one of the 15 impacted by proposed cuts to scholarships.

“It's the fact that our students will have support from the state in their educational endeavors. And I think we're just pleased that the Senate and the Governor saw that this was an important consideration, and I think that they made the right decision for the economy, for the workforce," said Keiser.

Keiser said there’s a reason the program has been around for decades: it helps educate students in high-demand fields like nursing, which is good for the state and its economy as a whole.

“Well, this is a program that goes back to 1979 and it means that the state recognizes the importance that independent higher education plays in the state's growth,” said Keiser. “We would like to see other states offer these types of grants to the students.”

In Central Florida, students at AdventHealth, Berry, Bethune-Cookman, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical, and Keiser universities can still qualify to receive these scholarships.

Watch Governor Ron DeSantis sign the budget:

Also kept in the education budget for the new fiscal year: grants to fully fund Florida’s AP and IB programs, which the legislature was also considering cutting.

All-in-all, one of the hallmarks of Governor Ron DeSantis’ budget this year is historic funding for K-12 schools and teachers in the state, along with higher education, and very few vetoes where education is concerned.

Here’s a list of some of the funding highlights for education in DeSantis’ budget, according to a statement from his office:

• "$15.9 billion in funding for the K-12 public school system
• $9,130 per public school student, an increase of $143 over last year
• Fully funding over 429,000 students who are projected to participate in Florida’s school choice program—the Family Empowerment Scholarship
• $1.36 billion to provide salary increases for teachers and other instructional personnel, an increase of nearly $101.6 million over FY 2024-2025
• $1.6 billion for early childhood education, including $434.2 million for Voluntary Prekindergarten initiatives
• $290 million for the Safe Schools Allocation
• $7.4 million to support civics engagement programs, including $3.5 million for the Florida Civics Seal of Excellence Program
• Recurring base funding of $2.8 million to continue supporting the Summer Bridge Program for VPK students who score below the tenth percentile on the second administration of the Coordinated Screening and Progress Monitoring (CSPM) System
• $637.7 million for Bright Futures 
• $1.8 billion for the Florida College System
• $3.9 billion for the State University System
• $161.5 million for Florida’s four Historically Black Colleges and Universities
• $675 million in performance funding for state colleges and universities to ensure they are successfully graduating and preparing our students for the outside world
• $726.9 million for workforce education programs, ensuring that Floridians can continue to access workforce education opportunities that lead to high-demand, high-wage jobs
• $467.3 million in operational funding for Florida’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs
• $60 million to establish or expand CTE and apprenticeship programs
• $130 million for quality nursing education programs to continue addressing nursing vacancies through the PIPELINE and LINE programs
• $10.5 million to support training programs and certification costs for new and relocating law enforcement officers and first responders"