FL student scholarship website hacked, up to 4.9 million affected. What we know

Miami Herald | By: Austin Horn | October 29, 2026

The Florida Department of Education reported a hack into the state’s student financial aid portal Thursday, potentially compromising millions of Floridians’ personal information such as Social Security numbers. The department wrote in a release that the website FloridaStudentFinancialAidSG.org was the subject of the hack, referred to by the state as a “data breach.” That’s the state’s main website for college scholarships and grants like the lottery-funded Bright Futures program, used by high schoolers and current college students.

In an update Thursday afternoon, the department added that the hack “may have impacted approximately 4.9 million individuals.” In a statement, the Department of Education wrote that it “became aware of a data breach incident involving unauthorized criminal access” on Oct. 19 and notified Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in its response. They wrote that the department “immediately activated its cybersecurity response protocols and took swift, decisive action to stop the unauthorized activity, contain the incident, and secure its systems.”

In a page addressing “frequently asked questions,” the department wrote that the “compromised” information in the data breach was “Personal Identifiable Information including Social Security number.” The hack has not affected disbursement or eligibility of grants or scholarships administered through the website, according to the department. However, the financial aid website and portal still appears to be down. The department recommends that users of the portal monitor their financial accounts for suspicious activity, review their credit reports and to consider “placing a fraud alert or credit freeze with major credit bureaus.”

Users of the website are encouraged to contact databreach@fldoe.org with additional questions.