Thank you Gator88NE. Since my son received Bright Futures, the FL Prepaid is only paying out the tuition not covered by Bright Futures. So, for example, if tuition is $6,000 for the year, Prepaid is only paying out $3,000 because Bright Futures paid out $3,000 (I am rounding the numbers for simplicity). I was hoping to get the rest of the Prepaid money (~ $3,000) to use toward other expenses. Even though the FIS covers the total cost of attendance, I don’t think they factor in the more expensive dorms or the full cost of a computer, etc. I’m sure one of the forms you linked will probably cover this scenario, I just have to find it! Thank you for the link.
@Mobie101 It shouldn’t work that way…my daughter also has prepaid and bright futures. First, UF charges us Tuition and Fee’s. Then Prepaid is used to pay a portion of our Tuition (we have the plan that pays Tuition but not fees). A few weeks (1 or 2?) later Bright Futures is used to pay the rest of the Tuition (Fees) and then any unspent funds get deposited into her checking account.
So, Florida Prepaid is used FIRST, then Bright Futures. However, if you’re awarded FIS, you do not have to use Florida Prepaid. Instead it would be Bright Futures FIRST (and any other scholarships you may have been awarded), and then FIS (and you pocket all of your prepaid). (Edit: Then again, I’m no expert on FIS! Check with UF on this…)
FIS covers COA. It’s an estimate.
http://www.sfa.ufl.edu/basics/cost-of-attendance/
This year, it using $5,420 for on-campus housing. Fine for Jennings or Broward, but it wouldn’t cover the more expensive suite style dorms. Then again, it estimates $1,000 for transportation, so if you’re in-state, you could save some $. Hmmm…$700 for clothing…how about adding another zero on the end for my daughter…
Poking around, I found where you can “Opt out of Florida Prepaid”. That may be the option you’re looking for (not to use Prepaid to pay UF). It’s in my.ufl.edu; under main menu/my campus finances/ Opt out of Florida Prepaid
Yes, this is how it works and I spoke with the assistant director of FA this past week in person at Criser Hall. We have FL Pre paid and FIS. They will always bill FL pre paid first. After drop add, they will disburse the remaining bright futures-FIS and scholarships and whatever remains after all fees are paid will be direct deposited into your student’s account provided they have set up direct deposit on their ISIS. Remember that the amount of the FIS will be specific for your child and the type of national merit they were awarded. For example, the set Cost of attendance is $20,590 for 2015-2016.( that is an average) FIS will pay $20,590-(Bright futures + National Merit award). Also recall that Bright Futures will be billed based on the ACTUAL credits your student registered for. So if your student registered for only 13 credits, the amount will be for only those 13 credits. Bright Futures does not pay additional fees such as distance learning fee and technology fee and transportation fees. Additionally, your FL pre-paid will not pay local fees or tuition differential unless you bought a local fees plan. If you purchased the plan before 2007, your are not subject to the tuition differential fees.
Just checking the thread to see when we can expect the FIIS and realized that my S never set up the direct deposit info…thanks for saving me an enormous headache. So the $ should be coming soon, I suppose?
So, is everyone else seeing the full tuition being disbursed from FL prepaid on the ISIS page? My son’s page shows approximately $1600 per semester from FL prepaid. Is everyone else with FL prepaid showing the full (approx. $3,000/semester) amount on ISIS? (I am rounding these numbers because I don’t have the exact figures handy) My son talked to financial aid and they told him FL prepaid will only pay out the amount not covered by Bright Futures, but that information conflicts with what @saismom was told. I’m just wondering what others are seeing on their ISIS page. I think maybe after drop/add it will all straighten out, since, as @saismom said, Bright Futures is based on credits. By the way, is 14 credits a pretty normal course load? We only need 12 per semester to keep FIS, right?
@Cshecmia, I guess the money should come soon. I heard that last year it was mid-September before anyone saw the FIS money. We have used the deferral option to defer payment of the dining plan and housing charges, and I think my son might have used it for books (he only bought a few at the bookstore since he found the rest cheaper elsewhere). I am so thankful for this scholarship!!
@Mobie101 that is what S’s account shows, plus a prepaid housing charge. How is your S finding school, so far?
@Mobie101 That’s not the way it worked for us, but we don’t have FIS. Normally, FL prepaid is used first, then Bright Futures. Any unused funds for Bright Futures will be direct deposited (if you’ve setup direct deposit) into your bank account. Currently FL prepaid has paid a portion of my DD tuition and we’re waiting on Bright Futures. Last year, Bright Futures came in around Sept 3rd (for us).
FL Prepaid pays a different amount, based on the plan. In our case, we have the plan that pays tuition, but not Fees. We where billed $2,485 for Tuition/fees (for 14 credit hours, because I purchased my FL prepaid plan before 2007, I’m not being charged the "tuition differential). The Florida Prepaid paid out $1,639. The total charge (in-state) for tuition and fee’s is about $210 a credit hour (I was billed less, since I don’t have to pay the $44 tuition differential). My plan pays the tuition ($105), and a few of the other fees. Even some of the FL prepaid plans that do pay fees, may not be covering all of the Fee’s charged by UF.
If I had purchased my (tuition only) plan after 2007, I would have been charged the tuition differential fee (and about $3K for tuition), but BF would still have only paid out $1600.
I will try to explain this as clearly as possible: FIS will not be DISBURSED until AFTER drop/add is final. FIS is based on your specific student’s situation. The “total cost of attendance” is an estimate based on 15 credit hours per semester. My student received a $1000 corporate NM so her FIS will be based on total cost of attendance minus ( National Merit+ Bright futures). Bright futures is awarded per credit hour so if your student is taking 12 credit hours, the Bright Futures component will be less. The school cannot bill the state for credits your child is not taking. ONLY FL pre-paid will be billed BEFORE everything else and should have already been billed. We have the 4 year university, the 2 year dorm and the local fees. Daughter’s housing was already billed as was her initial registration of 17 credits. She dropped to 14 and now we see a refund in the “My campus Finances” account activity area on My UFL. I suspect all account activity will be completed by September 4. Max Mauney ( I actually met him!) indicated to me that the accounts will be finalized and disbursement starting probably by September 1.
Remember that your deferred items such as books and meal plan( if you set this upo) will be paid out so do not expect the entire FIS to be direct deposited into your students account if you did set up deferments.
Another note- technology and transportation fees ARE NOT INCLUDED in Bright Futures or FL pre-paid ( even in the local fees plan) so expect to see additional “fees” charged. Your students may be taking an online class- there is a distance learning fee as well. Your students might be taking a class that utilizes an online service- that is an additional fee too! These will probably all come out of the Bright Futures and FIS monies.
!4 credits can be an easy or a tough load depending on the class. My kid has Calc 3, honors physics, physics lab, honors Computer aided design, aerospace departmental orientation, an honors seminar about transistors, and an honors seminar about computers. 14 hefty credits but manageable. Just depends on your kiddo and what they like to do. Group projects can make a 2 credit class seem like 6 credits!
@Mobie101 The information your son told you is not correct regarding FL pre paid and Bright futures. He will receive Bright Futures based on credits. Your FL pre-paid will pay the exact number of credits billed and will always be billed BEFORE all other sources and there is no minimum or maximum provided your son does not exceed 120 credits used. Keep in mind you can opt out of FL pre-paid but it will not pay at the graduate rate so if your son chooses to take a grad level class later on, FL pre-paid will only pay at the undergrad rate. The same is true for Bright Futures- only at the undergraduate rate…
@Cshecmia, my S seems to be doing well. How about yours? I think you said he went during the summer term, so he is probably an “old pro” by now!
@saismom, thank you for all of the information. I guess this should all shake out after add/drop, or around Sept. 1 as you were told. As of right now, it appears that FL prepaid is paying out much less than the 14 credits that my S is taking. I haven’t checked his account lately because I figured I would wait until after the dust settles and then figure it out. Last time I looked, FIS was still “predicted”, but I expected that. I also didn’t know there were extra fees for online classes, so thank you for pointing that out. Here’s an excerpt from the FL Prepaid site, that seems to say that Bright Futures is billed first. Am I just being super dense (quite possible!!)??:
“Don’t worry, having a Prepaid Plan will not prevent you from receiving Bright Futures. In most cases, Bright Futures is applied to your college tuition costs first, then funds from your Prepaid Plan are applied. As always, you can use any remaining funds for other school costs, like books. An Account Owner may also receive a refund equal to what would have been paid to the school for the plan by completing a Scholarship Refund Form, available via http://www.myfloridaprepaid.com/my-account/forms/. You can create an account for yourself, or check with the Account Owner for information on your specific plan(s).”
Your child’s course load seems like a lot to me, but probably when I was in college (with a younger brain!!) it wouldn’t have looked so bad! Of course, when I got my engineering degree there was no such thing as having your own computer, and CAD was sort of a new concept, so I’m sure things might be a little more difficult nowadays.
Did you tell Mr. Mauney that he is a celebrity and hero on this board? LOL
P.S. Don’t be afraid to tell me I am being dense; I am reading your posts to say FL Prepaid will be billed first, whereas the Prepaid site is saying Bright Futures is billed first. I do realize it is based on credits taken.
No worries!!! I am actually just repeating what Max Mauney and the Bursar’s office told me. Not sure why FL pre-paid would write that on their site because clearly this is NOT what the colleges are doing.I can see why you and your son were confused! When you say “it appears that FL pre-paid is paying out much less” where are you seeing this? Go to “My Campus Finances” under My UFL and look at “Tuition Statement” It should list the exact charges for each class and will even list those additional fees I mentioned. My kid has extra lab fees for her CAD class and I can clearly see that. This did not copy/paste well but you get the idea.Do you see “Billed to Sponsor”? That is FL pre-paid!
EML 2023
082A
COMPU AIDED GRAPH/DES
Enrolled
08/03/2015
3.00
$505.62
EML 2023
082A
EML2023 M&S Fee
08/03/2015
$17.90
EML 2023
082A
EML2023 Equipment Fee
08/03/2015
$56.31
EML 2920
6060
DEPT/PROF ORIENTATION
Enrolled
07/10/2015
1.00
$168.54
FOS 2001
2571
MANS FOOD
Dropped
08/20/2015
3.00
IDH 3931
072H
INTERDIS JUNIOR HONOR
Enrolled
08/13/2015
1.00
$168.54
IDH 3931
07BH
INTERDIS JUNIOR HONOR
Enrolled
08/13/2015
1.00
$168.54
MAC 2313
9724
ANALYT GEOM & CALC 3
Dropped
08/10/2015
4.00
MAC 2313
9749
ANALYT GEOM & CALC 3
Enrolled
08/10/2015
4.00
$674.16
PHY 2048L
6639
LAB FOR PHY 2048
Enrolled
07/10/2015
1.00
$168.54
PHY 2048L
6639
PHY2048L Equipment Fee
08/02/2015
$7.00
PHY 2048L
6639
PHY2048L M&S Fee
08/02/2015
$1.50
PHY 2060
3879
ENRICHED PHY W/ CAL 1
Enrolled
07/10/2015
3.00
$505.62
Totals
Tuition Due Fall 2015
$2,442.27
Billed to Sponsor
$-2,153.90
Student Payment
$-200.00
Tuition Balance Due Fall 2015
$88.37
This is what I copied/pasted from the ISIS area under 2015/2016 Awards and disbursements.
BILLED TO:FLPREPAID TUIT/LF Awarded 2,153.90 2,153.90 $ 4,307.80
This item is NOT included in Award Totals.
Disbursed 2,153.90 0.00 $ 2,153.90
Date of Last Disbursement 8/21/2015
This is not all she owes but this is Tuition only.In her other area for all charges and account activity, it shows her housing and that FL pre-paid disbursement. It also shows she still owes for her meal plan and books which we deferred but will be paid in order of when they are due when her Bright Futures and FIS come in as well as the other scholarships.
The only reason I know this stuff is because I made a point of making a trip to Criser and I asked lots of questions. Brought daughter with me and introduced her to her adviser in case she needs to go back there. He had over 300 unread emails. They were swamped!. By the way, Krista Scott left the office and is no longer with UF and I suspect they are in a bit of an upheaval. Financial aid advisors have shifted around and as of last week, they are training the new person who will be in charge of all things FIS. Max Mauney is the best source of info right now until the new person is thoroughly trained.
On another note- there is rampant debit and credit card skimming and cloning going on, both on and off campus. Advise your kiddos to NOT use their debit cards in vending machines. Only use the Gator 1 card or coins. My bank advised us to have daughter’s savings account unattached and not accessible though the debit/atm card so that if her card is compromised, her savings account is safe. Since the excess funds from FIS will be direct deposited into her checking, we will be watching closely and will immediately transfer those funds from checking to savings ASAP.
Another note form our bank; only use ATM machines inside buildings where they are frequently checked for skimming machines.
This was just posted on my UF parents group from Arie Gee regarding when Bright Futures will disburse: “It should disburse this week! It usually happens around Wednesday or Thursday of the week after drop/add”.
Hope this helps!
Thank you, @saismom for all of the info! I’ll have to check all of the specific information that you mentioned. I’m sure this will all sort itself out. I am so beside myself with joy at the fact that the FIS is actually going to happen, that I don’t mind at all waiting for all of these things to disburse.
Wow, two major bits of news in your post: Krista Scott left, and ATM cards are getting skimmed!!! I am so glad Ms. Scott didn’t leave when we were in the throes of figuring out how to make sure we got the FIS! It was enough of a roller-coaster as it was, without a personnel change right in the middle of it!
As for the skimming, that really stinks!! I pretty much told my son to use the credit card for everything, so I feel a little more protected that way. We’ve had credit cards used fraudulently a couple of times in the past, so I know the drill to get that resolved if it does happen. I’ll remind him again to try to avoid the debit card if at all possible. He should probably just go into the Wells Fargo branch on campus to withdraw cash if necessary.
Thanks again for all of the information! I really appreciate it. I also appreciate the responses from @Gator88NE and @Cshecmia and anyone else I might be forgetting.
Sadly, the credit cards are also being compromised! Just the Gator 1 card which can be filled with $ through Gator 1 central and will not be connected to a bank account- just a vending account. Here is the latest from Arie Gee:
Hi families! If your student has had their debit or credit card compromised after using it on campus, please call UPD to file a report (352) 392-1111. It would also be helpful if you can send an email to IHaveAGator@ufl.edu (please DON’T comment with the information here!) and let me know when and where your student used their card that may have resulted in the information being stolen. This will not take the place of a police report, but this will give me information that I can share tomorrow morning so that we can work towards fixing the problem.
Just anther note about Bright Futures: it can be used toward grad work but at the undergraduate rate.
A FAS or FMS scholarship recipient, who graduates with a baccalaureate degree in seven or fewer
semesters, or in 105 semester hours or fewer, may receive funding for one semester of graduate
study, not to exceed 15 credit hours paid at the undergraduate rate. Graduate school funding
must be used within the student’s five year award timeframe (within five years from high school
graduation).