I wonder how UF can afford to foot the bill for a full ride (tuition, room & board, books, supplies, fees, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses) to National Merit finalists when it is not offset by a major hike in tuition. This is an extremely generous offer especially since it has also been extended to already enrolled freshmen and sophomores. I think people will be taking the PSAT more seriously. At my daughter’s school, kids don’t even know it’s important to take, and they have to sign up for it in order to take it. More National Merit finalists will be attending UF due to this fabulous offer. The offer applies to any FL state school, but I think the majority of the students will attend UF. Talk about rising in the rankings!
It’s being funded by the state. Based on how many take advantage of the program, they (the state legislature) may or may not continue it. It is a great deal, if you qualify.
You may want to check out the last two pages of this thread, where the new program is discussed.
@Gator88NE I worry that the program is woefully underfunded:
http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/conferences/financialaidimpact/conferenceresults.pdf
Shhh we need to keep a lid on it for 4 more years. Just kidding, but this is very discouraging in light of the fact that Adidas just paid UMiami $90 million to put “State of Miami” on their football cleats in order to encourage talented football players to stay local. Priorities.
Some colleges/universities in Florida are making guarantees to students that if the legislature drops the funding, the university will foot the bill, not the student. Other colleges are saying no, they will not fund the scholarship if the state does not. It’s best to check with the specific Financial Aid office to see what their policy is. I know that New College of Florida will not pick up the tab, but I was told that UCF will do so. It’s an evolving program, which makes it a little frustrating. Wonderful if it works, though!
Many years ago, UF used to be rather aggressive attracting NMF’s from around the country. At one point they competed with Harvard and Oklahoma for the most number of these types of students. According to the National Merit website, there were only 20 NMF’s enrolled at UF in 2014, which is a low number given the size and quality of UF. It is good that they are finally getting back into offering this form of merit aid.