<p>Hi there!
I'm a junior in high school from Indiana. I lived in Tallahassee for 13 years, then we moved out of state. I've been browsing these forums about Florida State for a few weeks, and I've seen several mentions about some sort of differential scholarship for out of state students. I tried looking up information about the scholarship but I haven't found much information. I would LOVE to go back to FSU for college, and I'm looking for any way to make it more affordable.
If someone could explain the differential scholarship to me, that would be great!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>We are Florida residents but I believe it’s just a type of merit scholarship, so when you apply to the university, if your stats are good enough, they can decide to offer you instate tuition. I think it explains it on their website.</p>
<p>It actually states on their website that if you are awarded this “waiver” it is 50 percent off the out of state tuition, so currently a little over 7 thousand dollar discount. So the tuition would still be a little higher than instate tuition and the discount does not apply to any fees or other costs.</p>
<p>That figure is based on a normal 30 hour year. It’s not called a differential scholarship so not sure where you are getting that from. There is a tuition differential cost that is in addition to regular tuition but everyone pays that(unless they have a prepaid contract purchased prior to July 2007). The out of state waiver discount does not apply to this cost so that would still have to be paid in full. All costs are listed on fsu website.</p>
<p>Wow, okay! That would make things a lot different in my parents’ eyes… Looks like I’ll have to do some more research. Thank you!</p>
<p>For the tuition reduction, it says that you must have a special talent or academic merit. Does anyone have any idea of the specifics of this?</p>
<p>Academic merit=strong sat/act scores, and high gpa. Overall good stats when compared to every other out of state person applying. Don’t know about the special talent part.</p>
<p>Interestingly my daughter was first deferred and then received the scholarship you are speaking of. I was very surprised.</p>
<p>My daughter is OOS and got the tuition reduction/differential scholarship. The way it’s calculated is this: Calculate your tuition with in-state and OOS rates, then calculate the difference. 1/2 of the difference equals your scholarship.<br>
For example:
in-state rate = $220.10/credit hour. 15 hours = $3,301.50
oos rate = $701.94/credit hour. 15 hours = $10,529.10
difference between in-state and oos = $7,227.60
1/2 of that (the scholarship) = $3613.80
tuition owed = $10,529.10 - $3613.80 = $6915.30 </p>
<p>Hope that helps! By the way - the scholarship is merit based.</p>
<p>There is also a possibility of an additional $9600 merit scholarship on top of the reduced OOS tuition. The total of that amount is split over 4 years, assuming the student continues meeting the award criteria each year (takes minimum number of classes per semester, maintains certain GPA, etc). The criteria for this award changes from year to year, but I believe Admissions mentioned this year’s applicants had over 3.9 GPA (FSU re-calculated) and minimum ACT’s of 30 (can’t remember the SAT score mentioned).</p>
<p>My DD received the out-of-state waiver too. Hers is talent based - she is a music major. In fact, I believe every out-of-state music major receives this OOS tuition waiver.</p>
<p>ebrungard, I would just call Admissions or Financial Aid at FSU and ask them about that scholarship, as it does sound different than the OOS tuition waiver. Explain your situation, and they can probably help tell you what might be available.</p>
<p>I am OOS and didn’t originally receive the OOS tuition waiver, which was surprising since I had a relatively high SAT score, great GPA, and lots of extracurriculars. I called the office and the woman on the phone said “oops, you should have been offered that! Sorry. If you check now it should be showing”. So if you are not offered it at first take the time to call! Also if you are an OOS who has a parent with G.I. Bill education benefits see if they are still able to transfer them to you. FSU now offers the Yellow Ribbon scholarship through the G.I. Bill that pays full tuition along with giving you a stipend for housing and books.</p>