Benacquisto at UF and degree completion

Paying for College National Merit Aid
1

Benacquisto funds a student up to the # of hrs. required for the completion of their degree. An engineering degree at UF requires 132 hrs. What if a student completes 132 hrs. but does not fulfill degree requirements?

2

A couple things from the Benacquisto fact sheet:

  • For a major that requires more than 120 hours, you’d have to fill out the Extended Hours Application (which should be no problem in this specific scenario).

  • If you’ve taken 132 hours under Benacquisto – not including e.g. AP credit – and do not have your engineering degree, how I read it is you’d be responsible for paying for anything beyond that. “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.”

1 Like
3

Thanks. Wonder if the rule applies to external credits, I e., anyone with enough AP credits has to graduate in two years?

4

I know two NMFs at UF who were in that exact situation, and that wasn’t the case for them – they still had four years of a free ride. That makes sense, especially since not all AP credit is useful toward a degree. But as always, double-check with the school

1 Like
5

Credits that you earn coming in as a freshman - AP/IB etc - do not count toward the scholarship total. Only credits earned at the university. My son came in with 30 and is still eligible for the full 120 under the Benacquisto while in college. He is doing a dual degree (150 credits) and if timed correctly, he’ll come out 100% paid. If he needs an extra semester or needs a few credits to finish, we’ll pay the overage. Small price to pay for 2 degrees.

6

My daughter didn’t have Benacquisto but did have BF, which is administered by the same agency. She was at a private school that required 131 credits (engineering). At 120 credits, BF was cut off. No one offered her the option of applying to get paid for the extra credits. She was only in school for 8 semesters, and some of her other scholarships paid more that last semester, but it would have been a shock to only get $300 rather than ~$2000 (old days, BF paid less)