I don’t have the 100 cas hours
Do you have 75? That would get you a lower level Bright Futures at least??? Oh well- good luck!
Humbly, I don’t think you’re getting the point. The benacquisto scholarship states the amount is calculated by taking the COA-BF-NM. This the scholarship total value should be equal to the COA regardless of whether you have BF or not
@swimguy1234 I think she is stating that in case for some reason you lose your scholarship (it happens) at least you will have a $3100 back up. But in theory, yes, you don’t need it. My D’s school had every kid apply in class one day. Otherwise she may not have bothered either.
@swimguy1234 I wonder what the answer will be when you hear back from UF Financial Aid? And back to your original post- you did say your predicted award was not for the total COA correct? Well keep us posted.
Sorry for being late. I called FIS and they said that they had not even sent out projected aid amounts yet. I’ll be calling UF to see what’s going on
Oh no! Good luck. Probably just confusion on UF’s part as they maybe weren’t sure what to do since 99% of the FIS kids are also Bright Futures recipients and the FIS/Benacquisto is still sort of new. Wishing you a speedy resolution to this!
I just got a National Merit letter in the mail expanding on the terms of the scholarship and they mentioned paying taxes on money not used for tuition/fees/required supplies (books, equipment, etc) - so room&board and everything left over is taxed. Can someone confirm this?
Since I’m living in a UF dorm and have a meal plan, my sister said that the money I put towards room&board wouldn’t be taxed and that she’d never had her leftover scholarship amounts taxed.
@ambersky any scholarship over tuition, books and certain fees is taxable income, depending on the amount you receive you may not actually have to pay taxes on it after your deductions. Depending on the amount, you may not only have to pay taxes on your scholarship but you might be subject to the “kiddie tax” rules and may have to pay taxes based on your parent’s tax rate!
Personally, if our d16 receives no additional scholarships we have figured that she won’t have to pay taxes next year because she is only getting scholarships for half the tax year but she’ll likely have to pay a small amount of taxes in future years at our tax rate. We plan on covering her taxes because we don’t think this is fair and her scholarship is saving so much more than the taxes!
Yes my daughter had to pay taxes for one semester but she had a bunch of outside scholarships in addition to the FIS and we have pre-paid as well . Keep all your receipts! The laptop computer ( required for engineering) can be included under the necessary books and supplies category.
I should have mentioned the laptop IS REQUIRED for engineering but do not know about any other majors.
Thanks guys! So should I budget some of my FIS money to go towards taxes? How do I find out how much I’ll have to pay?
That will vary for everyone. Best advice I can give is to find a trusted friend or relative (who has true tax preparation experience) or utilize a free service for students to help you. My daughter chose to pay her taxes out of her funds but that is up to you and your family.
Hoping to see if anyone has any knowledge on rules regarding FIS and “Special Corporate” merit scholarships that are administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.
My daughter received a corporate merit scholarship from co I work for, for $1,000 for the 2015-16 school year (freshman year). When we rec’d her financial aid outline from FSU, it showed that she was being awarded the FIS, which covered all costs of attending that were not already being covered by Bright Futures, Merit schol, etc. Three weeks into the school year the office called my daugther and said they had made a mistake and that it needed to be returned to school. We met with the Financial aid office and were consistently told they had made a human error and that “Special Corporate” scholarships did not qualify.
Is anyone familiar with this rule? What makes for a “Special Corporate” designation?
O.K. Is your daughter an actual National Meri tFinalist/ Scholar? If this is the case, do not worry about the special corporate award. She can still be a UF National Merit Scholar. If she was given an smaller “special corporate” scholarship that usually means she did not make the cut-off for National Merit Finalist. Do you know if she was named a finalist?
To clarify- if she did not actually make National Merit Finalist- she CANNOT receive the FIS. If she did make National Merit Finalist AND received a special Corporate award, she can still name UF as her “school” and she should be able to receive the FIS but ONLY if she is actually a finalist. Receiving a special corporate award and should not have a bearing on it. The students who receive special corporate awards usually are commended or semi-finalists and do not progress from there. The special corporate award is a nice consolation award some companies give to students who did not make it.Does that make sense? Looks like UF made a mistake either way.
Feel free to PM me with any other questions and I can hopefully be of assistance!
I just realized you said FSU not UF. Not sure but I believe that the FIS does not transfer to other schools once it has been awarded at the students original school. Not sure if you meant your student was transferring to UF?
Hi! So I received the UF College Sponsored NM scholarship a few months ago; recently, when I checked my Financial Aid Award letter, it shows the Benacquisto Scholarship, but not the college sponsored one. I’ve been told to contact Jessica Roth, however I can’t seem to find her contact information anywhere. By any chance does anyone know how to reach her and/or is experiencing this problem?
is anyones kid going to UF and the total scholarship given is $2000 less than the COA? ($19260 instead of the $21260) They are only allotting $500 this year from NM so that is the missing $2000. Not sure how to rectify this called numerous times, no response back) or will she get more than the COA next year?