Keywords
Educational Equity, Merit Based Scholarships, Lottery, scholarships
Abstract
Despite decades of research and promising strategies to ensure educational equity for all students, a significant disparity persists between the racial majority and marginalized students in the United States. Attaining educational equity is a complex problem illustrated by state-funded merit-based scholarships, including the State of Florida Bright Futures Scholarship. Since Florida's merit-based Bright Futures Scholarship Program's (BFSP) inception, the average percentage of black scholarship recipients has been minimal compared to other races. The equitable distribution of scholarship funds is critical to investigate since attaining a post-secondary education advances social mobility consequently breaking the cycle of poverty for lower socioeconomic students and closing the wealth gap for marginalized families. The Bright Futures case study utilizes a participatory policy analysis approach to help inform Legislators about policy alternatives to attain a more inclusive distribution of scholarship recipients. Data collection includes hosting four focus groups, two for Florida high school graduates and two for parents of Florida high school graduates. Additional data were collected through a facilitated conversation to identify policy alternatives to create a more racially inclusive scholarship distribution. The research concludes with a report on findings, discussion, and implications, along with recommendations to create a more inclusive Bright Futures Scholarship Program.
Completion Date
2023
Semester
Fall
Committee Chair
Bryer, Thomas
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
College
College of Community Innovation and Education
Department
Public Affairs
Degree Program
Public Administration
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
DP0028075
URL
https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0028075
Language
English
Release Date
December 2023
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)
Campus Location
UCF Downtown
STARS Citation
Paramore, Sherry, "Exploring Stakeholder Experiences to Co-design Policy Alternatives for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program" (2023). Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024. 37.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd2023/37