If you don’t mind me asking, do you know what you are going to be paying at Miami? My son may be a NMS (hope to find out soon!) and I am having difficulty determining this info. My daughter currently goes there and loves it. She was not a NMS but still received a generous merit scholarship. Thanks!
@KrysRN101 , my son did not end up going to Miami but I can tell you for the HS Class of 2018 applicants Miami was giving NMFs the $21,000 or so in Florida Benacquisto money, then allowing them to stack on top of that any additional Miami scholarships they received, up to the full cost of attendance. So in my son’s case: he received a $22,000 Presidential award that was later replaced by the Miami Singer full tuition scholarship, $21,000 or so in Benacquisto, and a music school scholarship, to cover full cost of attendance. I do not know if Miami has changed that stacking policy. I would definitely confirm with his Miami regional admissions officer.
Just to let everyone know> Students attending UF also have the option of doing an approved study abroad equivalent to 6 credits during the summer semesters instead of attending summer courses on UF campus to meet the Summer Term Enrollment requirement. From UF website:
https://catalog.ufl.edu/UGRD/academic-regulations/degree-graduation-policies/#text
“Summer Term Enrollment
Students who enter a state university in Florida with fewer than 60 credits must earn at least nine credits before graduation during summer terms at State University System (SUS) institutions. However, students who earn six credits through UF-sponsored, UF exchange or approved SUS study-abroad programs during one or two summer terms completely satisfy the summer-term enrollment requirement. In addition, credits earned through any of the study-abroad programs approved by UF during a summer term count toward satisfaction of the summer-term enrollment requirement. Students who bring 60 or more transfer credits to UF, regardless of institution, will be exempt from completing the summer requirement at UF.”
Anyone know what the Benacquisto amount will be this year? FSU is budgeting for about $19,000 but I know in other years it has been closer to $22,000.
I am a little confused about the U Miami reference in this thread. U Miami is on our list as a school that offers great merit, but I did not think NMF would be a big deal the way it is at other schools. I am off to investigate but look forward to people’s comments here. DS is expecting NMSF and is looking at schools offering NMF scholarships, but this would move Miami into a different group.
Ok, just looked it up and see U Miami as Benacquisto school. Am I the only one surprised there isn’t more excitement about this option? I hear a lot of excitement for UCF, and Bama’s NMF program is incredible. But here is a highly ranked private school that costs a ton of money, offering COA for NMF…am I missing something as to why there isn’t more enthusiasm on this site for NMF at U Miami? Is it the lack of an Honors College? (We also like UCF and will apply, so we agree with the enthusiasm).
UMiami is NOT full COA for NMF. The amount of Benacquisto is full COA at the public FL schools. That amount (approx $21,000) is applied towards the full COA at Miami. (60k?? I don’t know exactly) In the past UMiami allowed stacking of scholarships, but be sure to double check on that. I think there is enthusiasm for UM, but it is not the “free ride” equivalent of Alabama, UTD, UF, FSU or UCF with no out of pocket money from student/family at all.
@rileygrl , Mamareeb is correct. If you are NMF and admitted to Miami and list Miami as first choice with NMC, you do get an automatic $21,000 or so from the State of Florida. But Miami pretty routinely gives that amount to high stats kids anyway, hence the perceived lack of excitement. Miami has in the past stacked its own merit awards of $20,000 to full tuition on top of the $21,000 Benacquisto award (up to full COA). Now, that is exciting! But there is no guarantee that a NMF applicant will get any additional award, or that Miami will continue its stacking policy. As always, talk to your regional Miami admissions officer to get the current scoop. Good luck!
Ahhhh, that makes sense! Thanks so much. This may not be the appropriate place for this question, so feel free to move/ignore. Assuming (yes big assumption, just theoretically) a big scholarship at Miami–let’s say, cost of attendance is 10k per year–compared to say, UCF Honors College or Bama Honors College for essentially free. If the 10k is easily doable with college savings…how would you compare the two experiences/educations? We are very drawn to the honors college community (only way we would consider a huge school due to DS personality, interests), but of course perhaps Miami already has a medium-size private school vibe that negates the need for a smaller community. DS would be STEM major, maybe get some personalized attention in one of their special programs. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to visit any of these campuses yet. Thanks!
@rileygrl , I will PM you when I get a chance.
Does anyone know NMF knowledgeable contacts at FSU or UF? It doesn’t necessarily need to be a name, could be an email address or phone number. I want to avoid speaking with someone that doesn’t know the situation and could give incorrect information.
Thank you!
Generally, most these schools have employees with very little knowledge, even in the Bursar or Financial Aid office. When it comes to Benacquisto, Vistajay and or myself have more knowledge than the institutions, sad to say. Vista jay and Myself both had students who were the first to take advantage of the OOS Benacquisto. We became well versed in it quite early. I remember walking into the UF Financial Aid Office and explaining the law to the office. His son is at FSU and mine is at UF, second years.
The reason some of us were not to excited about UM was generally it wasn’t a Full Cost Of Attendance.
As far as UCF, it has a great system in place for NMF and Honors kids. The tour and campus is wonderful with tons of NMF percs. I asked my son “do you feel like you need the UCF Honors College and a PHD mentor or can you go it alone?” He said he’d rather go it alone so UF Computer Engineering was the best choice.
Incidentally, my son was a counselor at the UF pre fall summer camp for new honors kids. Each counselor posted a sign in which they had helpful knowledge. He posted Benacquisto and was over run with questions. He had breakfast with on NMF student who had no knowledge she had the Benacquisto, Full cost of attendance. He showed her on her cell phone UF account, “look you have the scholarship here!” “Tell your parents they are paying nothing”. LOL
Keep in mind at FSU, UF, any scholarship’s you bring with you stack. The excess will come in handy for summer internships or summer travel. At FSU they waive the OOS portion of summer tuition that is not covered by Benacquisto. Benacquisto covers Fall and spring 100% of OOS tuition but not summer. At UF it is possible to take an internship, 6 hours and have the department waive the OOS tuition as well as tuition for the 9 hour Florida summer requirement.
I would also like to point out: Benacquisto pays for 10 Full semesters or whenever you reach the 240 or so Hours required by your degree. All other things held equal: at 15 hours for a semester, you will receive the same amount of scholarship money as someone to takes 12 hours. That leaves you 3 hours tuition of extra funds to get by with each semester. In essence, you can have $45,000 x 7 semesters or $45,000 X 10 semesters. With planning you can receive your degree in the 10 semester with a minor as well. NMF kids usually arrive with college credit. 
PS I meant to type 120 Hours. LOL.
“This program will provide funds for 100 percent of the number of credit hours required to complete a baccalaureate degree program, or until completion of a baccalaureate degree program, whichever comes first.
• Extended hours of funding are available to students enrolled in a single program of study requiring more than 120 hours by submitting the following application, “Extended Hours Application.”
• A student is eligible to receive an award for a maximum of 10 semesters or 15 quarters.”
Hence, with careful planning, you could retain the scholarship for 5 Years.
Like many of you I had so many questions and can confirm that scholarships do stack and the money is deposited into the students account. My son went thru the process last year and is now at UF in the honors program and was able to stack Benacquisto, Stamps and NMF money as well as other outside scholarships he received. Feel free to ask any questions that you may have but the Benacquisto is an amazing offer to NMF kids from anywhere. UF was just ranked #7 public university and #34 national university in the US and they are striving to become top.
@moscott and @FSUdad93 , Thank you so much. @FSUdad93 , thank you for explaining about the summer internships at UF. The summer OOS tuition is a big concern for me. Mom of hs jr. prepping for PSAT next month with goal of NMF. Has 1590 SAT and top 1% of her class. Wants to major in EE or CompE.
@FSUdad93 At UF, which department/person would you recommend to speak with about Benacquisto matters? I’ve started at the front door with the admissions office (the TX recruiter) and they haven’t even responded to my email.
Thank you guys for all your help!
Can those of you who have kids at UF, UCF, or FSU let us know if you have confirmed with the State of Florida (not the school) that your kid’s scholarship is guaranteed until they get the degree or hit the credit limit?
There is speculation on a few threads here that the state can pull the scholarship midstream if they change the law in future years. I’ve had one parent of a recipient tell me (and the language of the law supports it) that once accepted and enrolled, the scholarship is guaranteed by the state, and if they change the law it would effect incoming classes but not those students already enrolled. Apparently, some schools are saying there are no guarantees at all. My understanding is that any guarantee would come from the state, not the school.
My son was just named NMSF and UF is a top choice for fall 2020. So, my nightmare is that two years in on full COA, his scholarship is pulled because the state legislature votes to end the program!?
Who to talk to at UF about Benacquisto? I honestly have no idea. The best information is from those of us who have experienced it. Its mostly us parents with kids there.
Send me a personal message if you have a personal concern. I started by reading the state law 3 years ago for information.
I am not sure who started the " what if the state changes the law scare" but it started almost immediately with parents who decided not to send their NMF kids to Florida schools. Only three of us had OOS kids who went to UF the first year. UCF had the FCOA Scholarship for NMF before Benacquisto. FSU assures they will honor it to Vistajay. Is any Scholarship really guaranteed?
Florida has an education bill which they love and are quite proud of. It would take passing by both houses and a Governor signature to take your NMF scholarships away. They are meanwhile trying to take their State Universities up in rankings to rival California. Higher test score and higher GPA’s help and that is where our kids have value.
“Yeah, but what if a State Senator proposes to just amend Benacquisto and take it away from just Out of Staters?” Please! To what end? What has the politician to gain? But if it happened, would they write the law to stipulate: we will no longer offer Benacquisto to OOS NMF “and to those who are currently in the program, we the State of Florida say screw them and we will no longer honor their scholarship deals”!
I am sorry. It just doesn’t seem likely to me.
@7thgenTX I have spoken and emailed Jessica Roth at UF with questions regarding OOS Benacquitso, she has been very helpful and kind. Her email is jeroth@admissions.ufl.edu