This scholarship is pretty confusing. Do you just have to be a National Merit Finalist to receive it or do you need one of the additional scholarships also? Thanks.
I agree. It is confusing but NMF is all you need. Congrats!
I believe you also need to get some money from either NMSC, corporation, college sponsor, or institution awarded specifically to NM or NA, at least that’s what is stated on the FLDOE website. My DS is a National Achievement finalist and just recently has been awarded their one-time scholarship so he should be qualified. I tried to contact UF by email AND phone but unsuccessfully. My email went unanswered and the phone call led to some finaid adviser’s voicemail. I’m very frustrated trying to find out any info on this scholarship as it pertains to the UF specifically. I understand that it’s administered by the U but is awarded by the FL Department of Education. The only email answer I was able to get from UF office of finaid some time ago stated that much.
I joined this message board just to discuss this topic. It is a VERY confusing scholarship. I have been in contact with the UF Financial Aid office and also the FL DOE Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA). Here’s what I’ve been told about the Florida Incentive Scholarship (FIS):
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The current rules posted on the OSFA website apply only to students in college already (freshmen for 2014-2015). The Florida legislature is due to discuss and possibly change this scholarship for the kids that are currently high school seniors (meaning college freshmen for 2015-2016). We will not know the rules that pertain to our kids until the conclusion of the legislative session (which could mean AFTER the May 1st deadline to commit to a school).
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The “$500 institutional scholarship”, which basically was the only thing that allowed finalists who did not get any of the other NMSC scholarships to attend UF with the FIS, has been eliminated as a qualifier by the board (I am assuming the Board of Education? The person I spoke to just said “the board”.) I don’t know if another qualifier that would include UF will be added. I am assuming UF still does not offer the college-sponsored scholarship, right? I can’t find anywhere that says that they do, and the person I spoke to seemed to indicate that they did not (but I had a hard time hearing her–perhaps I misheard??)
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UF has no idea how this will play out for the incoming freshman class, and may not know until after our kids start school in August. The current freshman class was not notified of the rules until September, which meant a happy surprise for those who had no idea they would be getting a free ride to UF.
As you all know, this is super confusing and I don’t know if we will really know all of the rules until after our kids have to commit to a college. My child is currently struggling to decide between UF and UCF, and without knowing how the FIS will work out, it is making the decision very difficult. As we all know, UCF would be free for 4 years, but UF is still a wild card as far as the FIS.
With all of that said, make sure you check and double check the information I’ve typed out here. I don’t want to mislead anyone. These are the things that I personally have been told, but with all of the confusion surrounding this scholarship I may have misunderstood or even may have been told inaccurate information.
Please continue to post information as you hear it and I will do the same. Here’s hoping all of our NMSC Finalists can get the FIS for UF!!
Coolmom3, I believe if your son received a scholarship for NA finalist, he should qualify for FIS at UF (unless they change that rule, but I would be surprised if they did). That is great news!! I had the same problem as you when I called the UF financial aid office, so I finally pressed a button for something completely different than what I actually wanted and an actual person answered the phone. I do not remember what I did, unfortunately!! Keep trying, I think eventually you will get a person, and hopefully they can help you. Congrats to your son!!
@Mobie101
The “$500 institutional scholarship”, which basically was the only thing that allowed finalists who did not get any of the other NMSC scholarships to attend UF with the FIS, has been eliminated as a qualifier by the board (I am assuming the Board of Education? The person I spoke to just said “the board”.)
could you please share who you spoke to? thanks
http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/factsheets/FIS.pdf
I called the # given on this pdf but the lady there said essentially she really didnt know anything and I should contact uf.
Uf financial aid has been equally vague. has anybody reached a person at uf who actually understands this and if so can you share that name?
according to the uf fa website uf participates in fis.
http://www.sfa.ufl.edu/programs/scholarships/
so i hope they do give the $500 scholarships because if you dont get it, you may not get the fis at all because
if you dont get a corporate scholarship that eliminates one way( my daughter isnt eligible for this)
even if you get the $2500 scholarship from nmsc you dont find out till may 6th - after you send you acceptance to the college you want to go to!
so when you sign up befor may 1st, you still wouldnt know if you are getting fis if uf doesnt offer the $500 scholarship!
if you dont get the nmsc scholarship and sign up with uf anyway, without $500 scholarship, then come fall you will not get fis.
so this $500 becomes critical if you want the full ride to uf.
I echo what Mobie101 says - if anybody knows anything please share!
and please make the case to UF FA that giving the$500 scholarship would be important if they would like to keep the nmf kids at UF.
@Mobie101 Thank you, although I am not sure my son will choose UF since all this deal with FIS feels really shaky, who knows what will happen to this program in the years to come? If it’s so hard to even find information on this scholarship, I can only imagine dealing with FLDOE and UF finaid office if there’s a problem with its funding in the future. Thankfully, my DS has other very attractive offers. I’m not quitting though, I will keep trying calling UF, there must be a person in charge of State scholarship programs. Also, my DS will ask his guidance counselor to contact UF, I believe they have a direct line.
I have confirmation from Mr Max Mauny at UF Office of Financial Aid that UF will provide the $500 institutional scholarship and NMF students did receive the FIS last year and will continue todo so unless funding changes. Also, amount can be prorated depending on # of NMF.
@Cshecmia Thank you for the info. Could you share how you were able to contact Mr.Mauni? I tried searching for his email or phone # online but unsuccessfully although I was able to find this PP presentation by the above mentioned Mr,Mauny about FIS at https://prezi.com/2mb8r1cxyd-q/florida-incentive-scholarship/
@coolmom3 I messaged you his contact info.
The elimination of the $500 institutional scholarship as a qualifier is very new information and might not have made its way to UF yet. I would suggest calling the FL DOE Office of Student Financial Aid (I don’t have the number handy but it is on that sheet that is on the OSFA website describing the FIS). Unfortunately I would be surprised if UF is completely up to date on this very new information. The person I spoke to at UF (sorry, I do not remember her name, but since it was a female it was definitely not Mr. Mauny) told me specifically that they will not know the details of this scholarship for the 2015 incoming freshmen until after the legislative session concludes (who knows when that will be exactly).
I do have a question for all of you: Since UF does not give out the college-sponsored NMSC award, there is no benefit to naming them the first choice school on the National Merit site, correct? I was going to have my son put UCF so that we at least lock in that scholarship, but he is more interested in UF and I don’t want to miss out on any scholarships at UF if we do not name them as his top school. Am I correct in assuming we do not have to name UF as the first choice school with NMSC, even if they are still offering that institutional scholarship? The institutional scholarship really has nothing to do with NMSC, correct?
Thanks for all of the info and help. I’ll post any updates I get and I’ll follow this thread to see if anyone else finds out any information.
Calling @saismom, expert on all things Florida Incentive. Have you heard anything re the elimination of an institutional scholarship as an FIS qualifier?
Wow! No I have not. What I do know is that we cannot count on anything, I am afraid. The Florida Legislature may well change things for the better—or for the worse regarding FIS. Fingers crossed this will turn out well for all National Merit kids- not just named scholars.
Thank you.
Ok, I finally had a chance to do an internet search and I came up with the following pdf. The new rules seem to allow the institutional award ONLY for 2014 finalists; everyone else must get one of the other types of awards. I may be reading it incorrectly, so if any of you are able to take a look at it, please post what you think it is saying. Thanks!
http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5444/urlt/200281.pdf
Edited to add: Do you think it would be beneficial to forward the link to Mr. Manuy at UF so that UF can start looking into why this is happening? It could mean a loss of Merit Finalists for UF.
What am I missing? It says “be initially enrolled in the 2014-2015 academic year or later”. Why do you think it’s only for 2014?
It’s in the definition of “Scholar” (section 2), where it says “… Institutional award provided to 2014 National Merit® Finalists who did not receive one of the other three scholarships associated with the National Merit® Scholarship program…” In section 3e, it then states the FIS recipients must meet the definition of “scholar” in section 2.
The way I read it is, only 2014 finalists can get FIS by virtue of the Institutional Award. They either intentionally or inadvertently left out anyone past 2014. That’s just the way I’m interpreting it; I hope I am wrong. But, the OSFA did tell me the institutional award was no longer a qualifier, so I’m trying to connect the dots between that information and what is in the pdf I linked.
One piece of good news that I forgot to include is that OSFA said that the legislature is not currently scheduled to tinker with the FIS this session. Of course, that is subject to change. I think the only thing we know for sure is that we won’t be able to ever be 100% certain about this scholarship. Even if our kids do get it at UF, I feel like the rug could be pulled out at any time. This is not a good way to encourage students to stay in-state, that’s for sure, and that was the entire intention of this scholarship!
I see. Not sure that is their intent but I agree the wording is peculiar.
I emailed Mr.Mauney two days ago and I am still waiting for his reply. I am very frustrated by the way that UF handles communication, I never had such a terrible experience communicating with any colleges that my DS applied to, all 15 of them! As a matter of fact, he just got an email from USF regarding FIS and this is what they are saying: “If you have been named a National Achievement Scholar Finalist/Designee, you are eligible to receive a full scholarship from the Florida Incentive Scholarship Program* which combines with specific other scholarships to cover 100 percent of the cost of your attendance at USF.” **The Florida Incentive Scholarship Program is subject to state funding and will not be awarded until funding has been confirmed. Prior to this confirmation, qualified students will be awarded the USF Tradition of Excellence Scholarship ($20,000/up to $5,000 per year) and any other merit-based scholarships from the Office of Admissions for which they qualify. These awards will be replaced by FIS once it is awarded." What I don’'t understand is why UF is not proactive in recruiting NMF and NAF while all other Florida schools are very eager to get them. USF has been very impressive in their recruiting efforts by keeping us up to date with all the events, financial aid deadlines, etc. They even sent my DS a handwritten greeting card congratulating him with his National Achievement award. UF, on the other hand, wouldn’t even update his application at the time he received his semi-finalist letter saying that once an application is submitted, they can’t add anything to it anymore. This was just ridiculous and unheard of. DS never had a problem updating his submitted applications at any other schools including FSU and USF!
I heard back from OSFA and @Mobie101 is correct. The rule for FIS has been modified and to be eligible for upcoming years, you need to receive either the NM $2500 scholarship, Corporate sponsored scholarship or college sponsored scholarship. Fortunately, I have been told, but have not confirmed myself, that UF is now offering the college sponsored scholarship! Rollercoaster!