FIS National Merit Finalists Latest Info

I was looking at the updated facts sheet for the Benacquisto (http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/factsheets/FIS.pdf) and noticed that it says, under terms of eligibility, “a student is eligible to receive an award for a maximum of 10 semesters or 15 quarters.” I could have sworn that last year’s facts sheet, which I was relying on for info throughout my entire college application and admissions process, had said a maximum of 8 semesters. So this whole time I’ve been thinking “ok, I’ve got to be out of college in 4 years! Because after that, no more scholarship!” But now, unless I’m mistaken, we have 5 years?

Only if your degree requires it. Aerospace engineering, for example, requires 128 credits but realize many kids bring lots of dual enrollment or AP/IB/AICE credit too. That is why it is perfectly ok to take a semester or two of only 12 credits especially if the classes are particularly challenging because you CANNOT drop a class after drop/add or you will lose the scholarship! You can also go to www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org to check. It shows my daughter’s account was only just updated yesterday so now I understand why things are moving so slowly!

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a double major so how would that work? The degrees on their own would be doable in 4 years but double majoring might turn that into five. How do they determine that the degree ‘requires’ five years? Because technically aerospace engineering could be done in 4 years - you’d just be taking 16 hrs per semester which, in practice, would be awful.

I think as long as you are at least full time each semester, they will pay up to 10 semesters or the completion of the degree. So full time in Fall and Spring is 12 hours.We will need to ask questions about the double major as well because that is what my daughter is hoping to do too.This is why my kiddo turned down a scholarship at Georgia Tech- they REQUIRED you to finish in 4 years and then the money went away. Some of the semesters were 17 and 18 credits!

Hi, do you know if the Benacquisto requires them to go full time or 12 hours if they go in the summer? Also,my son’s Benacquisto still hasn’t disbursed. He got his bright futures over a week ago…

I think the summer is on your own but I know that full time summer is 9 hours . Sorry I really do not know the specific answer to that.

UF is delayed with getting some Bright Futures out and many of the Benacquisto funds out. Monday should be the day as my daughter did receive an email notification and saw her funds disbursed on my.ufl.edu but they are not in her checking account yet.

Yeah, the Benacquisto doesn’t appear to have any rules or requirements about summer terms, but the Florida state university system requires all undergrads (with some exceptions for, I believe, transfer students) to complete 9 hours total of summer coursework before graduating. 9 hours at once is considered a full time summer term but I think you can spread the 9 hours over a few part-time summer terms to meet the graduation requirement. The Benacquisto doesn’t provide any summer funding so they have no rules regarding it. They just want you to do full-time fall and spring, because after all, that’s how much money they’re giving you - a full-time year’s COA.

Yay, his Benacquisto posted late last night! I can breathe easier. I had the question about summer school because the Benacquisto rules don’t mention summer school one way or the other, just says that students must take at least 12 hours per semester. I sent them an email a week or so ago just to make sure that didn’t apply to summer school, but I haven’t heard back. My older son usually does one summer A 6-week class every summer so that he’s getting his summer hours out of the way, but he still has like two months off so he can work and go on our family vacation. But he’s not on any special scholarships.

How long does disbursement usually take in January?

Has anyone not received their Benacquisito funds yet for this semester? Seems like some students had funds delayed.

Current high school senior here.

Is there any point in getting BF if I expect to get the benacquisto?

Oh my gosh- YES! Especially now when it is very likely that the Florida legislature will be voting to fund Bight Futures for the required 9 credits over summer.

@folkiestcat

I wonder the same thing

Yes by all means apply for BF!!! No brainer on that decision!

Asking for a nephew who wants to attend UF - if an applicant who will have an AA at high school graduation is admitted as a transfer student (instead of as a freshman) will he still be able to use the Benacquisto Scholarship since fall 2017 is his “first time in college” because the AA was earned through dual enrollment while in high school? I have not been able to find any info on this on the official website and I thought someone on this thread might know. Thanks!

Great to see lot of information for NMF on UF. But I do not see much on NMF - FIS award for UM ?
Although t is not related to this thread, any idea or experiences how UM (Univ Miami ) handles NMF -FIS?

Agree about Miami. Their web site references FIS but without specifics and not in a current manner. I am guessing the highest cost of an in state public($22,000 or so) is deducted from the Miami COA. Then the question becomes if other scholarships stack. Would love to see a comment by a NMF freshman\parent at Miami who is attending with FIS/Benaquisto.

^ I’m interested as well. Just realized UM takes part in the Benacquisto.

When my kids were accepted to UM, they were told UM would stack Benacquisto with their UM specific awards. Which makes sense because the state money is not their money anyway.

The Benacquisto Scholarship is to be open to out-of-state students under Florida Senate bill 2. This bill has passed the Senate is now to the House. As an out of Florida resident with a likely 2018 NMF, this is great news. Rather than OU or Central Florida, now UF looks like a much better choice…

I am concerned as to the Senate analysis:
Of the 320 National Merit Scholars (NMS) and National Achievement Scholars (NAS) who
initially enrolled in a Florida college or university in the 2015-16 academic year,141 266 received
an initial award as a Benacquisto Scholar.142 The other 54 NMS who enrolled in a Florida
university during the 2015-16 academic year most likely graduated from out-of-state high
schools, and thus were not eligible for the Benacquisto Scholarship. Assuming this number of
students remains constant for the 2017-18 academic year, and these out-of-state students
otherwise meet the eligibility requirements, the cost to fund the additional out-of-state students is
estimated to be $1.1 million.

Are they kidding…54 NMF kids are attending Florida schools now without Benacquisto Scholarship’s full ride. When the doors open to out-of-state kids, like my daughter, there will be a flood of applicants. Growing up in Oklahoma, I will still push my daughter toward UF or FSU or Miami if she can get Benacquisto. The estimated cost of only funding 54 out-of-state kids is seriously naive. The 250 NMF that attend OU is a better estimate for the cost…

I am keeping my fingers crossed that bill 2 passes. My niece graduated from UF and I would love to see my dughter there too.