Benacquisto Schoalrship

Colleges and Universities A-Z Florida State University
1

My son was accepted yesterday and his scholarship letter stated:

On behalf of Florida State University, I am pleased to offer you the Benacquisto Scholarship in recognition of your outstanding academic performance. The total amount of this award equals the institutional cost of attendance minus the sum of Bright Futures and the National Merit Scholarship, valued at over $80,000. This scholarship also guarantees admission into FSU’s University Honors Program. To receive this scholarship, you must qualify as a National Merit Finalist and list FSU as your first choice institution with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. More information about this state of Florida scholarship can be found at here.

So it looks like a scholarship offer, but it is not. It is a conditional offer on his National Merit status which he won’t find out for some time. I am wondering if he will qualify for a different scholarship, like the Freshmen or Presidential if he does not advance to National Merit Finalist? It seems strange to say it is offered before it can actually be offered.

2

If he is not named a National Merit Finalist then he will be more than likely qualifying for the University Freshman Scholarship. It depends on his SAT/ACT score and GPA. The Presidential Scholarship is tied to becoming a Presidential Scholar which is a separate application process all together. They only select 25 of those a year.

I hope he qualifies as that is a pretty awesome offer. I was never told about the National Merit program at my school so I didn’t put any effort into studying for my PSAT. I did well but not enough to qualify, I wish I had. Good luck!

3

He’s instate? If he doesn’t get the NMF, he’d then get the Bright Futures (maybe $3000, maybe $7000 if the new funding goes through) plus whatever other awards he may get. The Benacquisto is nice because it is all in one piece, an easier package to understand, but it may not be all that different if he gets BF and other school awarded funds.