UF:
Regular Tour: Full a week or so in advance,
Engineering Tour: Full a week or so in advance.
Honors Tour: one opening.
Paid $10 for the tour Noon to 2 p.m. Arrived at UF and we walked the campus, thousands of mini-scooters. Only saw part of the south west campus as it is very large. My son liked what he saw. Upon arrival at the stadium for the Honors tour we were welcomed to join as long as we paid our own lunch as many others opted to do. Lunch was good. There were about 10 Honors Ambassadors all of which were friendly and professional. I asked most of my questions while walking with them.
The honors Hall, Hume, was very nice as dorms go and its location is perfect for Engineering classes. The student parking garage was right behind the building. (no parking on campus)
Honors invites 1250 students a year of the 2500 that apply. About 700 accept. I figure a third or less are NMF.
I visited the Financial Aid office and even though the clerk was very nice, she offered little information reference the OOS NMF scenario.
To my surprise there were almost no seniors in the tour. It was mostly Juniors. Very few if any of these students would be classmates if my son attends.
Every worker on campus was friendly and helpful. They actually impressed! Other than getting a feel for the campus I learned very little that I hadn’t learned from the UF Honors site here on CC. One of the ambassadors volunteered that her roommate had the Benacquisto saying “its nice, she is rich as that scholarship pays for everything”.
UF is at the top of his list followed by UCF. Its nice to have options.
@FSUdad93 thanks for the update. I will be there next Thursday and Friday with my son and post something afterwards. Hopefully the logistics of getting the National Merit scholarship and subsequently the Benacquisto for OOS NMF will be more worked out and communicated to us by end of next week. The NMF that have been accepted to both UCF and UF already will have tough decisions and logistics to work through. GLTA in the same situation.
My son received an email from UF FAO stating they were checking to see if he was on the NMF list and eligible for the Benacquisto. Something might be brewing there.
Okay, possible UF’s, can we go forward with this:
(Hello,
I apologize for not being thorough.
The roster I referred to is one that we get from the UF Admissions Office showing Benacquisto recipients.
As of right now, we have not pulled any out-of-state Benacquisto recipients. However, after checking with the Scholarships Area in the office, I was informed that as long as you have UF as the number one school, the student will receive Benacquisto.
?Please ensure the student designates UF as his first choice to receive the scholarship.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Jose J. Garcia
SFA Coordinator II
Office for Student Financial Affairs
Division of Enrollment Management
S107 Criser Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611-4025
P:352-392-1275 F:352-392-2861)
@FSUdad93 thanks for sharing that email response. That might be as good as we get. I have an email request for how to proceed logistically I sent yesterday and will enquirer personally next week. Will post any new info.
To those of you planning on attending a Florida Benacquisto-eligible school: I am looking for some guidance on whether or not to use Florida Prepaid funds in addition to Bright Futures / Benacquisto funds and just get the refund, or save the prepaid funds for grad school or in the event the scholarship is lost if the GPA falls below the threshold. If it makes any difference, my son’s prepaid tuition and fees contract is pre-2007 so we are exempt from the tuition differential fee. Thanks for your input.
Save it- Benacquisto covers all.
@g8torlaw I would check with UF (you have time to decide if you want to use Florida pre-paid or not).
I see your point. If you use pre-paid, UF would only charge about $4,500 for tuition (the differential fee is waived) and not about $6,000. That could be an extra $1,500 or so in your pocket, as using prepaid doesn’t impact the amount they pay out for Benacquisto. The additional Benacquisto funds would be deposited in your bank account.
However, check with UF SFA to make sure that’s the case.
@Gator88NE Exactly the point! Thanks. that. It’s only an issue if he decides to go to UCF or FSU. He was accepted into the Gator Engineering @ Santa Fe program for UF, and that program is not Benacquisto-eligible since technically he would be a UF transfer student if he decides to go that route.
@FSUdad93 – I think you are fine for this year; the bill has become law and money has been allocated.
As someone who has been following this for years and has researched it to death, my question to you now is, how confident are you that it’s going to be there for the Class of 2022 for the 3 years after this year, given how money apparently has to be appropriated every year and how political winds shift? I am pretty sure that no school that is merely accepting outside scholarship funds, even from the great state of Florida, is going to given us any written or legal assurance that our kids are going to receive a 4 year full ride diploma if anything happens to Benaquisto in the future.
Do you know if that is addressed at all, in the legislation or elsewhere (grandfathering in current recipients should the program change in the future)? If not, we are going to have no legal recourse should things change, since you cannot sue the State, and we are going to have to take it on faith that the legislature won’t screw OOS non-constituents should budgetary or political issues arise, or that the school will make it right, since we relied on a representation when we enrolled our kids. This doesn’t apply if the school funds the program itself, like UCF! What do you think? Is this part of your calculation, along with ranking, honors college, etc.? I keep going back and forth myself.
Nomenclature question, please. 
If a student accepts a National Merit scholarship from a sponsor college such as OU, UNM, UCF, etc., but does not receive anything from a corporate sponsor or from NMSC itself, is that student properly called a Finalist or a Scholar?
We’re not expecting anything from NMSC because S didn’t check the preview and his essay was truncated. So with just his UNM scholie, is he a Finalist or a Scholar going forward?
When I read the verbiage from NMSC, it looks like one could argue either way.
Thanks!
@NJDad00 , I have the same concerns about OOS Benacquisto. The Florida economy and budget priorities can shift even in a year, so I am just making sure we can afford the school if that happens and that scholarships being replaced by Benacquisto will still be available to him.
I have another question for @Gator88NE and you other amateur Benacquisto sleuths. S18 is admitted to Miami-Fl with a full tuition L. Singer scholarship, which we are very grateful he received. I called Miami FA recently to inquire about the interplay between his existing scholarship and the approximately $23000 that the state would send to Miami under Benacquisto. I was told Miami will not stack or otherwise factor in Benacquisto, as they limit the Singer full tuition scholarship recipients to the full tuition award. Not to be greedy, but there is still room, board and fees to pay for. Why would Miami encourage my son to ignore the Benacquisto? If he puts Miami as his #1 with NMC, the state will send $23000 to Miami. Why does Miami not want that money? They could take it, throw $15,000 of it to my son for room, board, etc…, and still come out $8000 ahead of where they are now. I know they are a private school and can do anything they want, and that my son is not entitled to this award, but I don’t understand the rationale. What am I missing?
@DiotimaDM , when my D15 received a Nm scholarship from USCal, she received a letter or certificate from NMC calling her a Scholar. I think if you accept an award from a sponsoring college, you are a Scholar.
Thanks, @vistajay!
My take on reading NMSC is that any student receiving an official NM scholarship from either NMSC or a participating organization is a Scholar and not a Finalist. UTD calls its program the National Merit Scholars program. OU calls its participants National Merit Scholars. UCF calls its participants National Merit Scholars. I could go on but you get the point.
Thanks, @traveler98.
2018 News (check out 4th Bullitt point)
From UF Financial aid page.
Governor Scott has signed Senate Bill 4 into law, which impacts some of our state programs, especially Bright Futures and Benacquisto beginning 2018-19, as follows:
Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) will continue to receive 100% of tuition and applicable fees plus a $300 educational expense stipend in Fall and Spring.
Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS) will receive 75% of tuition and applicable fees in Fall and Spring. They will not receive the $300 educational expense stipend.
Both FAS and FMS recipients will be eligible to receive their awards during Summer 2019. Neither level will receive the $300 stipend for summer.
Benacqustio will become available to non-Florida residents who are National Merit finalists and choose UF as their #1 school. This change takes effect in Fall 2018.
My response: NJDAD00
The law has been changed and the " instate" clause has been taken out. This makes an NMF an NMF whether he is instate or out.
Should the Benacquisto become too expensive for the State of Florida, I would imagine they would change the law to no longer offer it to all NMF or possibly specifically OOS NMF. I find it hard to believe they would cancel it for students In State or OOS halfway through the program. (who knows they are politicians)
IMHO Eventually, when the State of Florida believes they no longer need to offer it, they will cancel or change the program. Other “schools” have changed theirs. At least we have a “law” on our side. The program has only been in effect since 2013 and so far, at least, they liked it enough to include OOS NMF.
I have chosen to believe that once the law was signed, an NMF who lists a school as their #1 choice will receive the Benacquisto, full cost of attendance for 10 semesters as long as he or she holds a 3.0 or higher. ( because that’s what the law says)
In addition, once one moves to the State of Florida, one can establish residency. Then one would become an Instate Benacquisto recipient.
Florida Law:
The COA is the total amount of cost to attend college full-time each term, and may include but is not limited to: tuition & fees, on-campus room & board, books, supplies, travel, and miscellaneous expenses.
Florida Student Financial aid.org
This program will provide funds for 100 percent of the number of credit hours required to complete a baccalaureate degree program, or until completion of a baccalaureate degree program, whichever comes first.
A student is eligible to receive an award for a maximum of 10 semesters or 15 quarters.
UF Florida residency:
A Florida “resident for tuition purposes” is a person who has, or a dependent person whose parent or legal guardian has, established and maintained legal residency
in Florida for at least twelve (12) consecutive months preceding the first day of classes of the term for which Florida residency is sought. Residence in Florida must
be a bona fide domicile rather than for the purpose of maintaining a residence incident to enrollment at an institution of higher education. To qualify as a Florida
resident for tuition purposes, you must be a U.S. citizen, a foreign national in a nonimmigrant visa classification that grants you the legal ability to establish a bona
fide domicile in the United States, a permanent resident alien, parolee, asylee, Cuban-Haitian entrant, or legal alien granted indefinite stay by the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services. Other persons not meeting the twelve-month legal residence requirements may be classified as Florida residents for tuition purposes only if
they fall within one of the limited special categories authorized by the Florida Legislature pursuant to section 1009.21, Florida Statutes. All other persons are ineligible
for classification as a Florida “resident for tuition purposes.” Living in or attending school in Florida will not, in itself, establish legal residence. Students who depend
upon out-of-state parents for support are presumed to be legal residents of the same state as their parents. Residency for tuition purposes requires the establishment
of legal ties to the state of Florida. A student must verify that the student has broken ties to other states if the student or, in the case of a dependent student, his or her
parent has moved from another state.
Hey guys, I don’t know if this applies to anyone, but Northeastern’s deadline for naming them the top choice college for up to 30K in NMF money (replacing other scholarships) is April 5th.
I think you are reading too much into this issue. The scholarship is for the 5 years. Not yearly. It is paid out yearly and it is the promise made by the state when the student starts the program. Unless the student falters it is guaranteed. If at all they change it, it will affect only future students. All scholarships in every college private or state is program based. Harvard, Yale or anywhere. If you guys just want to break your head for nothing, I don’t know what to say.
Too much time is being wasted.
I think the UF page for FA has made it clear. I don’t have any doubts now.
Cheer up people. Tomorrow is $2500 release day…
@vistajay – Totally agree about concerns based on shifting priorities in the future. For me the issue is not whether or not I can afford to pay in the future, it would be the other scholarship opportunities we are passing up in reliance on this, and then potentially having it pulled before DS graduates!
I am no expert on Benaquisto or Florida politics, but here is my 2 cents on your Miami question – I doubt it’s Miami denying you Benaquisto; I’d bet it’s the State of Florida. Remember – Miami is the exception to the rule. All the other Benaquisto eligible institutions are public. I’m sure the legislature is less than enthusiastic about using taxpayer funds to help a private school compete with the state flagship and other public schools for top students, but someone wrote the original legislation to include Miami since it’s a NM sponsor school. That said, they limit the award to the highest public COA. I’m sure the state does not want to send money to Miami for a student who is already receiving an institutional award that exceeds the public COA amount.
If it’s not that, then it’s Miami just saying that they don’t want you to have more than full tuition, so they are using Benaquisto to offset their costs rather than allowing you to benefit from it. For what it’s worth, bear in mind that no one, anywhere, gets more than COA. You can always pocket a few bucks if you keep your expenses below the institutional COA, but, to my knowledge, no school lets you stack scholarships above COA. Benaquisto is the only program I know of that is run by a state rather than a school, so it’s also entirely possible that the state simply does not want to fund scholarships for students already receiving assistance above the public COA, as is the case with your Singer scholarship. I realize that is not explicitly stated in the law, but I guess it’s possible that they tell Miami not to stack the awards.
Maybe someone more plugged into Benaquisto or Florida can give you a more authoritative answer. In any case, full tuition at Miami or full COA at another Florida school is a great problem to have!