I’ve been doing so much research about this highly confusing scholarship, but I have made no concrete gains.
So, does UF actually offer a university-sponsored scholarship to finalists? In the event that I don’t get one of the 2500 scholarships from NM themselves, will UF give me a $500 if I am a finalist? Can anyone shed light on this issue?
Welcome to the club! I have also done a lot of research - I think I’ve exhausted the internet of all information about this scholarship - and here’s what I can tell you: UF is part of National Merit this year and DOES offer a university-sponsored NM award to Finalists. Nobody knows if they give it to ALL finalists. T
hey used to have two awards - a university-sponsored NM award (which they still have, though I do not know the exact amount) and a separate award called an “institutional award”. The institutional award was given to all finalists who hadn’t won anything else. So if there were finalists who didn’t win the NM award, or the UF-sponsored award, or a corporate award, they got this small institutional award. I believe it was purely so these finalists could be qualified for the big fancy Florida Incentive award. UF wanted to give them money. So they created their own institutional award as a sort of last-resort. I believe this was only for the 2014 incoming class.
After that, UF stopped with this award. Now, you have to win the NM award, the UF sponsored award (the official one, NOT the institutional one) or a corporate award. Any of these three things will qualify you for the Florida Incentive Scholarship. However, there is no guarantee that if you get one of these three things, you will automatically get the FIS. I am just as anxious as you are, because it would be SO great if there was a guarantee. I could kick back and relax! But for the time being, we’ll just have to be a little anxious. In approximately April I believe you will find out if you are “predicted” to get the award or not. Good luck!
@gfish15014 I have typed and typed on this forum and others about the FIS. I have been researching this scholarship since last year when we had a strong feeling my daughter might stay in state. She is ( and three of her HS class of 2015 classmates) all named FIS recipients. She and one friend are corporate scholars and the other two were named the UF scholars. All received the same amount of money in the end since the FIS is based on the total ESTIMATED cost minus ( Bright Futures + National Merit). Ask any questions or you may PM me and you can call me. As of right now, yes, UF is back in the national merit fold. All this means is if you are NOT named a corporate scholar or a one time $2500 National merit scholar, then you may be awarded the UF national merit scholar $ which would then allow you to be an FIS scholar. Right now the UF award is $500 but I was told that the amount could be higher based on your financial need. This policy may change. You cannot get more than one of these designations- Corporate, One time National Merit $2500 or UF scholar. Again, the amount does not matter since All FIS scholars will ultimately receive the same amount of $.
@saismom @Anglograce Thank you both so much for the feedback!!! Okay, that all makes a lot of sense. I’m really glad that you both gave me confirmation of the university-sponsored scholarship UF offers; that makes things a lot brighter in terms of going to UF for “free”.
So FIS pays for everything that isn’t covered by BF and any other scholarships?
Good news for you hopeful FIS recipients: Rick Scott has actually chosen to increase the funding to this program rather than completely defund it like he did with last year’s proposed budget ( the house and Senate obviously disregarded his proposal last year and chose to fund it) It is being called the NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLAR INCENTIVE PROGRAM on his proposed budget and it can be found here http://www.keepfloridaworking.com/web%20forms/Budget/BudgetJustification.aspx?justID=276319&si=48200200&pc=0308000000&icd=5200147&title=Justification&ver=1
@timbercreek16 The way it works is very simple. Look at the total estimated cost for UF. http://www.sfa.ufl.edu/basics/cost-of-attendance/ This 2015-2016 year it was $20,590. This is an estimate for a few items such as “Books and supplies” “computer and cell phone” “food” and it is a fixed cost for things such as actual tuition based on a total of 30 credit hours per 2 semesters. Anyhow the total proposed cost this school year was $20,590. If you receive the UF National Merit $500 award ( assuming you ARE NOT a corporate or one time $2500 recipient) you will receive the following: $20,590- ( Bright Futures Academic Scholar award of $103.00 per credit hour + UF National Merit ) So for a typical student at UF who is receiving the UF $500 National Merit award, they will be given approximately$8250 per semester to use toward tuition, fees and all other costs.The second semester might be slightly higher since you will only receive that UF $500 one semester.This is not affected by any other scholarships or by FL pre-paid. It is in addition to all those other sources. It is not financial aid based on need.It is an academic award base on merit. Just understand there will always be additional lab fees and other costs that may come up and some dorms cost more than others and some students do not get a meal plan. The dorm estimate is based on the cheapest dorm.The money that gets disbursed directly to your account is what has not already been used to pay for tuition. If you choose to live off campus and to not get a meal plan, that money is there for you to use as you wish. Any excess funds not used to pay your tuition and fees get direct deposited into a checking account you set up.
Thanks so much for the clarification!
@saismom Thanks for all your research, the budget news is awesome! My son is FIS at FSU. I do have a question for you: the scholarship covers “books, travel” and other incidental expenses. How does one go about submitting these expenses? I assume it must be done through the university, since I can’t find anything on any of the state DOE sites.
@subtropicus I sent you a PM.
so @subtropicus do I understand correctly, that if they are named a NMF and don’t receive a corp award or one from NM themselves, that they will still definitely get the FIS because UF will give them an award so that they qualify? I thought I read somewhere that a $500 award will no longer qualify them for FIS? I don’t want to get our hopes up…esp before she even gets into UF LOL. She did get into UCF and FSU so I assume they have a similar deal? Also, if they receive this, does that mean any other award they received can be stacked or are those subtracted from the scholarship? It would be nice if it would really cover the COA…esp with my daughter planning to join a sorority $$$$$ lol
@fbhsmom read my latest post regarding FIS. Hope this helps.
@saismom where?
@fbhsmom, I think you might be thinking of the $500 institutional award that UF gave to previous year’s NM finalists. It technically was not through the National Merit Corporation, it was an award from UF that was allowed to count for getting the FIS. Last year (high school class of 2015), that institutional award was no longer a valid way to get the FIS. Luckily, UF decided to come back into the list of National Merit schools that sponsor a college award, so now they award a $2000 scholarship ($500/year for 4 years) through NM. There has been some confusion as to whether or not every finalist naming UF as their top choice would receive the college-sponsored NM award through UF, so @saismom was very kind and called UF to get updated information; you will find that info in one of the other FIS threads that are currently at the top of the board (I can’t remember which thread). She may even be able to provide you with a phone number in case you want to call UF to get any more details.
As for stacking scholarships, I don’t know about that since UF did not offer anything above the NM award. Hopefully @subtropicus can shed some light on that.