Canadian Healthcare from a Canadian...

[GhettoDogAllStars]

In Florida, there is a program called Bright Futures. Any high-school student who meets the following criteria receives 75% tuition paid for any school in Florida:

Merit Scholarship-
1.) Meet attendance requirements
2.) 3.0 or greater cumulative high-school GPA
3.) 970 or better on the SAT

In addition, if you meet this criteria you receive 100% tuition paid, plus $600 per semester for other expenses (i.e.: books):

Full Academic Scholarship-
1.) Meet attendance requirements
2.) 3.5 or greater cumulative high-school GPA
3.) 1270 or better on SAT

The program will pay your tuition for up to 6 years, or 140 credits. It's probably the best education program in the state of Florida, and possibly the whole nation.

I moved to Florida after my Junior year in high-school, and since I met the requirements, I qualified for the Merit Scholarship. I don't have my Bachelor's degree yet, but I did get 118 college credits and only had to pay 25% tuition, plus books. I worked full-time and went to school at night. It was a great opportunity. Of course everyone is granted a high-school education for free, and if you perform there you will have most of your college tuition paid for (if not all of it) -- your income bracket is irrelevant. Poor people have the opportunity to go to college for free in Florida. Literally.

Note: I might be off 10 or 20 SAT points, and the Scholarship might not be 140 credits, but it's definitely really close to that. They also change the rules every now and then, but the basic idea doesn't change: poor people have the opportunity to get a college degree for free (or close to it).