The State of Florida has the Benacquisto Scholarship that covers the total cost of attendance at UF, FSU, USF, UCF, University of Miami, and New College for NMF. It is for both in-state and OOS students.
@oldandwise: the Benacquisto Scholarship does NOT cover the full COA for University of Miami.
@oldandwise I donât see where the Benacquisto is for OOS students. The UF page specifically says in state
http://www.sfa.ufl.edu/types-of-aid/scholarships/
@dadinga Benacquisto recently was expanded by a bill (signed and passed just last week), so the website probably hasnât been updated yet.
Can anyone find a link to a news report about this huge news out of FL? I cannot seem to find anything through Google. Thanks!
@dadinga SB-4 was signed by the Governor on 3/11/18 and does expand the scholarship to out of state students
Link to press release
http://www.flsenate.gov/Media/PressRelease/Show/2884
Link to text of the bill if anyone wants anything to put them to sleep.
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/4/BillText/er/PDF
I was properly corrected above that the State of Floridaâs Benacquisto Scholarship for NMFs does not include the total cost of attendance for U of Miami. Instead, it will give you the highest total cost of attendance for one of the public colleges on the list toward the cost of U of Miami. Currently, the State of Florida would give about $22k/year.
All of the previous analysis of the best scholarships for NMFs has been rendered meaningless with the addition of OOS to the Benacquisto Scholarship. UF, one of the Top 10 public colleges is the USA, is now free to all NMFs. The scholarship amount covers the total cost of attendance, which includes tuition, room and board, books, fees, and misc. expenses for travel, phone, etc. Floridaâs universities are a great bargain anyway, but for NMFs, a free education at a school of UFâs excellence stands head and shoulders above any other financial incentives out there. This raises the bar on the competition for NMFs everywhere.
The Benacquisto is open only to FL residents and only for the schools that participate in the NM Scholarship program. It is not open to âall NMFsâ.
@jym626 no longer true.
@oldandwise The required summer term (unfunded and limiting other opportunities)and other strict policies may make other schools more attractive to OOS NMF, irrespective of rank.
@itsgettingreal17 - not sure what you are referring to, but just read their web site before responding.
@jym626 If youâve been following the UF discussions on this board, youâd realize the legislature passed a law making the scholarship available to OOS students.
Well I havenât. They need to update their website, I guess. Looks like they are going back to luring NMF students. Way back wen they offered my DS a full ride plus a stipend. I would have loved for him to have taken it but he didnt. Ironically, I will be on the UF campus later today. Go gators!
@itsgettingreal17
The summer school requirement at UF can also be met by such things as summer internships or study abroad, not just by taking summer classes. I donât know what % do other things than summer school, but I suspect it is significant.
@jym626, Iâm not sure UF ever lost is focus on attracting NMFs. After all, UF had the 6th most NMS in the country last year.
Is that total @ or percent of incoming class?
Iâve been told the summer school requirement at Florida state colleges is not as strict in practice as it would seem, though maybe some schools are stricter than others. My son will be attending FSU this fall with the OOS Benacquisto Scholarship. Our main concern is the rule that you lose the scholarship if you drop a class after the drop add period (because you will not have enough credits for the term), and the potential that the Fla Legislature will defund or alter the program in coming years if it grows too expensive. FSU allayed that second fear by promising to fund the Benacquisto scholarship itself if the Legislature yanks it during my sonâs attendance.
@oldandwise UF likely had the 6th most NMFs last year because the Benacquisto Scholarship has been awarded to in state NMFs for several years now. So lots of Fla NMFs have been going to UF recently.
UF will certainly benefit from OOS Benacquisto, and so will FSU and the other eligible Fla colleges. FSU jumped 10 spots to #33 for public schools last year, and is aiming for top 25 soon. More NMFs will not hurt that effort.
I am so excited that Florida extended the offer to out of state students. My daughter will be attending UCF in the fall #GoKnights
UF offered nice scholarships to NMFs several years ago, but stopped. Glad to see with the new scholarship/availability to OOS students they are trying to attract the best and brightest. Would still like to know if the statistic in post #1014 is based on total # of NMFâs enrolled (am guessing this) vs as a percentage of the undergraduate population.
For those in the situation, from what I understand if you have a FPP and receive the Benacquisto as well, you should use the FPP to cover COA.