I logged onto class.daytonastate.edu to find this message:
Daytona State College recently was notified that the Southern Association of Colleges (SACS) is planning a site visit. The College believes that we will be able to address any issues or questions and do so without jeopardizing the College’s accreditation.
Michael Vitale
Interim VP of Academic Affairs
Daytona State College
Do you think Daytona State deserves to continue being accredited? Why or why not? Leave your feedback by commenting on this post. I particularly want to hear from people who have withdrawn, dropped out, transferred away from, or decided not to attend Daytona State.
In my opinion, Daytona State has a high market share that does not necessarily reflect upon its high quality, but rather, the fact that people are being paid to go to or to return to college. The IRS Earned Income Tax Credit applies from the ages of 19 to 24 if you are taking 12 credits in at least 5 calendar months of the year (one major semester), which can easily provide over $3000 to your parents from the federal government. The federal government also gives many students $2775 free money per semester for the Pell grant, and many students get the lottery scholarship, Florida BrightFutures, which is $924 per semester. The Daytona State Foundation provides scholarships of $800 per semester to many other students who apply, which are provided by local business magnates. Tuition and books typically cost under $2000 per semester, excluding ignorant students who use the bldg. 200 bookstore instead of ordering online from websites such as Amazon, Half, AbeBooks, and Bookbyte. The college also provides many work-study positions to students at $7.25 or $14.50 an hour which are often undeserved, because no solvent business would provide such jobs. Additionally, the college gets tens of millions of dollars from …
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Jason alerted me that the email I got from the FL department of education means $375 for the whole school year, which is two semesters. So each semester the bonus is actually reduced from $225 to $187.50. This is after being reduced from $300 to $225 in the spring of 2008, when the Medallion award was raised from 75% to 100% for community and state colleges.
I was fooled by the email, because it reminded me of this similar email from 2007 November 27:
Dear Mr. Thripp:
Effective January 1, 2008, the Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) maximum allowance for college-related expenses will be reduced from $300 to $225 for the second half of the 2007-08 academic year, prorated by term and hours.
As a result of the state budget shortfall for the 2007-08 fiscal year, many academic year program budgets were reduced during the Special Legislative Session 2007C. Senate Bill 10C was signed into law which amended the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program by reducing the 2007-08 FAS college-related expense allowance and providing for future academic years amounts of the FAS allowance to be specified annually in the General Appropriations Act.
If you have further questions, please contact the Bright Futures office toll-free at 1-888-827-2004.
Sincerely,
Office of Student Financial Assistance
And this is the email from 2008 September 12:
Dear Mr. Thripp:
The 2008-09 Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) college-related expense allowance that is specified annually by the Florida Legislature in the General Appropriations Act will be $375 for the 2008-09 academic year, prorated by terms and hours.
If you have further questions, please contact the Bright Futures office toll-free at 1-888-827-2004.
Sincerely,
Office of Student Financial Assistance
Obviously it should be worded more clearly. They got it right on the BrightFutures website, where it says:
“The annual college related expense allowance for Florida Academic Scholars (FAS)
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I just got this email from osfa@fldoe.org, the Florida Department of Education:
Dear Mr. Thripp:
The 2008-09 Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) college-related expense allowance that is specified annually by the Florida Legislature in the General Appropriations Act will be $375 for the 2008-09 academic year, prorated by terms and hours.
If you have further questions, please contact the Bright Futures office toll-free at 1-888-827-2004.
Sincerely,
Office of Student Financial Assistance
The Academic Scholars award is the top tier of the Florida BrightFutures scholarships. If you get this award like I do, you know last semester it was dropped to $225 from $300, so it’s good to see it going back up, with an extra $75. This is in addition to tuition.
My books were $348 this semester, so $375 more than covers it. Yes!
My Daytona State College education has been going well, keeping me busy though. I have a Physics test and a speech on the early history of photography on Monday. I’m going to film the latter and post it here after. Now, back to studying. 
