Hi, rising senior here. My mom got me the Florida prepaid plan (2 years at community college then 2 at university) in 2017. When she got the plan she had assumed I would be completing two years at community college then transferring, but I intend to go straight to a Florida university. I also plan to apply for the Florida Academic Scholars Bright Futures scholarship. However, both of them cover tuition. Would my best course of action be to cancel or block my prepaid plan and allow Bright Futures to pay for my tuition? Could the prepaid then be applied to other expenses such as housing or meal plans or vice versa? Thank you!
This is what phone calls to financial aid offices are for! You can call any public university in the state and they should be able to answer your question. If you had the 4-year university plan, the answer is pretty straightforward. Florida college prepaid would be tapped first for your tuition and then Bright futures would be funded directly to you – for which you can use it for anything like housing or any other expenses. My guess is that Fl prepaid would cover about half of your tuition, as the state colleges are cheaper, and then Bright Futures could be used to fund the balance. You would have roughly half of the bright futures money (plus the book stipend) to use for any other purpose. But back to my main point, call one of the state schools.
You can direct the FPP any way you want (or not use it at all). If you have both FPP and BF, the school will apply the FPP first (and they’ll have a value for the 2 year CC amount) and then the BF. If it is too much, they’ll refund the money to you. They have a whole system for applying the money as many kids do have FPP, BF, sometimes Pell grants or other need based aid, other scholarships. If the grant or scholarship has a restriction to only be used for tuition, the schools will use that first. Both FPP and BF can be used for costs other than tuition or even refunded to you at Florida public schools. Private schools can set their own rules with BF.
@twoinanddone @GatorDad305 Thank you for your help! I contacted UF, FSU, UCF, and USF and they all told me that prepaid would automatically be applied first.
I am a Senior and have applied to the USF Honors College. I have Prepaid/Local Fee Plan (but NO dorm plan), will have FAS Bright Futures. Without considering the USF Merit Based Scholarships, I am wondering if FPP and BF alone will cover all costs for the first 3 years, for anyone who has had a similar experience? The 4th year may be med school due to the 7 year to MD Program, so I am not expecting that that be free and clear. Thanks for any tips! -Logan
@LJAmom You could check USF’s website, check how much tuition, meals, and dorm for a year will cost and then compare it to how much money you will be receiving. Contacting the school is also a good option. You should also try posting your question to the USF forum, I dont think anyone is going to be able to see it/notice it here 