ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Time is running out for thousands of students across Florida who are hoping to get some financial assistance for college. The extended deadline to apply for Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship is Friday, July 31.

Jake Kimpton said he has worked since his sophomore year to get one of the scholarships, mainly studying for the SAT. When the pandemic forced the cancellation of most SAT tests, Jake studied for the ACT, which can also be used to apply for the scholarship. But he needed to improve on his previous ACT score from two years ago.

“He proved to me that with that effort, he could do it, and we were down to the last piece,” said Tim Kimpton, Jake’s father.

But when Jake showed up to take the ACT at West Orange High School on July 18 — even with this receipt showing he registered for the test — he was told he wasn’t on the list and couldn’t take the test.

“By the time I got there, she had already sent eight other students away, so it was just like, what’s going on here,” Kimpton said.

ACT’s website displays a message indicating several hundred students showed up on July 18 to testing locations where tests were canceled and ACT did not notify the students in time. But it’s not clear if that nationwide issue caused Kimpton’s problem with getting turned away from the test. Kimpton said there are no more ACT tests scheduled before the July 31 deadline.

“We just feel like the governor and the board of education need to step up and make some kind of accommodation,” Tim Kimpton said.

“If you were able to do that, and push back the scholarship deadline, that would definitely help a lot of students that are in the same situation I’m in,” Jake Kimpton said.

A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education said because Bright Futures Scholarships are funded through state lottery trust funds, the department doesn’t have the legal power to make more changes to the scholarship requirements. The department already loosened requirements for volunteer hours and extended the original June 30 application deadline. The spokesperson said the state urged the College Board, which oversees the SAT, to have more tests in June and July.

“Unfortunately, the College Board did not prioritize our seniors and schedule the SAT before the July 31 deadline,” said Cheryl Etters, deputy director of communications for the Florida Department of Education.