How Popular Merit College Scholarships Have Perpetuated Racial Inequities

Need help paying for college? There’s good news, states across the South tell their students. You can earn it.

“The Bright Futures Scholarship Program offers opportunity and prosperity for all Florida families!” the Department of Education there tweeted this spring.

The message seems simple: Anyone can get most, or even all, of their tuition paid through the state’s signature program. Students just have to get the right grades and standardized test scores.