Combination of Scholarships?

<p>I'm going to be going to UCF. Can I simultaneously use the NMSF Scholarship, Pegasus Gold, 100% Bright Futures and Pell Grant and possibly multiple other smaller scholarships?</p>

<p>You definitely can use Pell. I know what Bright Futures is, but what is Pegasus Gold and what is UCF’s NMF scholarship consist of?</p>

<p>^Well UCFs NMF gives full-tuition but the NMSF gives at least 9,000 (With my SAT scores and other stats I was offered 13,000) and the Pegasus scholarship is given to NM(S)Fs, National Hispanic Scholars, etc. and there are different levels (silver is normally around 8,000 and gold is around 10,000 but can be much more, I’ve seen people get around 30,000 over all 4 years total, mine will total about 26,000).</p>

<p>Wait… If I can use all them and my Bright Futures covers 100% and Pell for anything left over that needs to be bought (if there is) does that mean I keep what ever is left over from my Pell, Pegasus and NMSF? O.O That’s a lot of money (especially since I’m living at home). My sister gets about 4,000 a semester that she gets to pocket but she got about half the score I did on my SAT and she bombed the PSAT so no NMSF or Pegasus. I’ll be able to make a considerable dent in my Med school debt if I get to pocket all that money.</p>

<p>No, you don’t get to keep all the money. You will only be allowed to accept awards up to 100% of Cost of Attendance. Each school determines its COA and it includes tuition, room, board (if you’re living on campus), and a set amount for books/transportation/ personal expenses. There is usually one COA for students living on campus and another one (lower) for kids living with their parents. </p>

<p>As far as whether you can expect all of those, you need to talk to the UCF financial aid office and ask what you can expect to get (whether they will limit the Bright Futures by the Natl Merit, etc) and whether you can stack. </p>

<p>By the way, since it does sound like you might have leftover money, one thing to consider is whether you have some unusual expense-- like health insurance or very expensive books. Some schools will allow an increase in COA in such circumstances. I don’t know if UCF does it but, if it looks like you’ll be in that situation, you can ask. (Oh, and you can always ask any private scholarships if they’ll let you use the money to fund a new computer or something like that. Sometimes, they’ll also let you defer which may be helpful in case your Pell is lower next year or if you want to take summer classes.)</p>