Hello,
My son is a high school junior set on attending UF. He is an excellent student and will probably be a National Merit Finalist. (I say this because he took the PSAT in 10th grade, and his scores would have qualified him for NMSF – so presumably his scores on the PSAT he took last month as a junior will be as good or better.)
I have two questions I hope someone can answer:
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Assuming he does make it to National Merit Finalist status, and lists UF as his top choice on the paperwork , is he guaranteed of getting a Benaquisto, or do they only select certain NM Finalists as Benacquisto recipients?
And if so, what are the criteria and what are the odds?
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The state of Florida description of the Benacquisto says that a student must take a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester to remain eligible. (http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/factsheets/FIS.pdf)
However, the website for FSU says that FSU students must take a minimum of 15 credit hours. ( http://admissions.fsu.edu/freshman/finances/ ) I guess they want to get their students out the door ASAP. 
Does UF do this too, or do they go by the state requirement of 12 credit hours?
(My son is going to enroll with something like 40 AP and IB credit hours and it would be nice if he could take fewer than 15 hours when reasonable just so he can relax a little and enjoy his life.)
Thanks.
My daughter is at UF on Benacquisto. We’re so thankful for it, but it scares me how “easy” it seems to lose it. Maybe not? Anyway, if he lists UF as his first choice by the deadline he will definitely get it. The criteria is to just be a National Merit Finalist, and that cutoff seems to vary slightly by year. Maybe he would need an index of 219? But, it’s unknown at this time. As for the required credit hours, my daughter is currently taking 14, so I’m guessing that they go by 12. That had been our understanding, that she needed to have at least 12 credit hours.
Thank you, FL Mom, and congrats to your daughter! I didn’t even know the Benacquisto existed until a few days ago. They don’t seem to publicize it.
What do you mean though, about “how ‘easy’ it seems to lose it”? I know there is a minimum GPA of 3.0 and the minimum credit hour requirement-- is there anything else that must be maintained?
My son took the PSAT as a sophomore for practice and his index was 222. Unfortunately it does not count because he was not a junior. He will be getting his new (junior-year) scores next week so we shall see how it goes. It would be so wonderful for him to get the Benacquisto.
I think she means that you can’t drop a class after the drop add period or you lose the scholarship. My daughter is a Benaquisto, and a Lombardi Scholar. Check that scholarship out on the UF website as well. And best of luck!
Yes, I was thinking about how you can’t drop a class. Also, you need to maintain a 3.0 - which should be (relatively) easy, except that they give out minus grades - so, a B- is less than 3.0. This is my daughter’s first semester, so we’ll see how the GPA shakes out. I am expecting her to be fine (lol- she needs a 3.5, I think, just to remain in the Honors College), but she has been somewhat challenged with the college curriculum - a little surprising as we thought that all of her AP classes would have prepared her.
Good luck to your son!
thanks, FL Mom and Madredos. That helps make things a little clearer.
So I feel kinda silly asking this but I want to double check. My daughter is a freshman at UF with the Benaquisto Scholarship. Is the COA the same every year? Includes $ for computer every year? And the Benaquisto Scholarship students are given that every year?? Trying to figure out her budget for next year so crunching numbers.
The COA normally goes up a little every year. I know that for sure. I would think that the students would be given whatever the COA is for that year, but I can’t say that for 100% sure.
As far as I’m aware, your daughter would receive the full COA each year, as long as she keeps her GPA above 3.0 and doesn’t drop classes after drop/add week. This would include the money they allot for computers/phones.
Hi Gators! Where the Benacquisto says minus the Bright Futures etc. This means full COA minus the other Florida scholarships one already has? The reason I ask is the Bill to allow Out of State NMF scholars the Benacquisto is on the Governors desk as of today. These OOS students wouldn’t have the previous Florida Bright futures scholarships.
The award says “Eligible scholars will receive an award equal to the institutional cost of attendance for an in-state student minus the sum of Bright Futures”. UF full Cost of attendance, is this what your children received?
@FSUdad93 I read it as implying that the scholarship would only be for full COA. If you do get Bright Futures that amount is deducted out and it’s not in addition (COA + BF). I think OOS would simply earn full COA.
Gator88NE How helpful is UF for NMF students, Honors students etc? It appears that UCF is more helpful with their program. i.e. Mentors, preferential scheduling etc. It appears that UF has a Whatever attitude.
@FSUdad93 Keep in mind that this is just IMHO…
Honor programs are recruitment tools. At UF, it’s main goal is to get high performing students (on a campus full of high performing students) to engage with the campus and take advantage of what it has to offer. They do this through advising, honor classes, and some scholarships. However, most things available to an honor student (like undergraduate research) is also available to any student on campus. Most upper division classes at UF are fairly small and are taught by tenured faculty.
I think one of the biggest weakness at UF is advising. That’s the case at all large public university. The additional advising can be very helpful for some students. UF’s program also offers preferential scheduling, etc, but getting the classes you want isn’t a major challenge at UF for any student.
At UCF, the biggest weakness is a lack of resources. For example, lets compare UCF to UF and FSU in two areas.
Instructional Expenditures/Total FTE:
UF: $15,277
FSU: $8,829
UCF: $5,357
Student to Faculty Ratio
UF: 20 to 1
FSU: 22.1 to 1
UCF: 29.6 to 1
The state is funding a plan for UF to hire 500 additional Faculty with the goal of getting the ratio down to 16 to 1 over the next two years.
UCF’s honors college is an attempt to get more resources ($ and People) to the highest performing students. The resources available via the honors college helps to close the gap between a UCF honors student and an UF student. The preferential scheduling has a much bigger impact at UCF, as does the additional advising.
You may see a UCF honor’s perk that seems better than UF honors, but in many cases a non-honors UF student still has access to more resources.
I’m glad to hear it as UF Engineering Full COA would be a dream for my son and I. Keep in mind my wife and I are both FSU alums. LOL We are visiting probably Monday or Tuesday or both as we will be in Florida anyway. Hopefully a tour will impress us. I haven’t been there since I won the Florida Relays 2 Mile Run in High school and that was 1979. It has probably changed. I’d be psyched for him to be a Gator.
@FSUdad93 I would try to tour both campuses honors colleges. Alot of the National Merit Finalists are choosing UCF over UF due to the HC and what it offers
Thanks they have toured UCF and loved it!
The COA you may see on the web site is an “estimate” for incoming freshman only. The subsequent COA does change but not by very much. “Tuition/fee figures are projected estimates for 2018-19 for incoming freshmen entering UF for the first time. Tuition/fees for continuing students may be lower.”
So SB4 was signed into law, Yay!!! and now it states that the Benacquisto Scholarship will be expanded to recruit OOS NMFinalists. Do you think this will only offer a scholarship that covers the Cost of Attendance at the in-state level, and the OOS students would have to cover on their own the extra out-of-state cost of tuition and fees (which the UF website says will be an extra ~$22K/year.) Or maybe the Benacq Scholarship will offer OOS students an in-state tuition rate (waiving the out of state extra cost)? Plus, what will happen if the parents move to FL at the same time the student starts college?
@GarpRules , per the bill language the OOS portion of tuition is waived.
@GarpRules @vistajay I think it might be full cost of attendance for out-of-state NMF.
http://www.flsenate.gov/Media/PressRelease/Show/2884
“Expands Benacquisto Scholarship awards (full cost of attendance) to recruit out-of-state National Merit Scholar award winners.”