If year one, my son has over COA in scholarships but the scholarships are non renewable…how does that work? Can the excess scholarship money be kept in an account and used next year?
Or if my son accepts the large merit offer at one school and goes over year one in COA with these non renewable…would they just lower what they offer in their merit year one and then go back to the full amount year 2?
What is the school’s financial aid policy? Does the schoool meet 100% demonstrated need? If the school does not, you could find yourself with a very big gap to fill years 2-4. Remember that some scholarships can only be used for tuition, some or last payer scholarships for qualified expenses and may not pay out if the expense is covered by another source. There are scholarships will provide more discretion as to how the funds are spent. This is a question for your financial aid department because not all schools will handle this the same.
Thanks. This is a public school that does not meet 100% demonstrated need.
We live in Florida. He qualifies for bright futures which is 100% tuition/fees in Florida. Most scholarships he may get are Florida specific and they all say expenses because they know about bright futures.
UCF offered him provost which is 7500 a year. With Bright Futures and Provost, he still has 8,000 gap for their estimated full cost of attendance (highly inflated food/housing/personal expenses). So, I’m thinking he will not earn more than that…So, thinking thinking he will get refunded the balance after tuition/housing and he will just have to be smart about the money.
Does the $7500 cover the full cost of room and board? Remember especially as a freshman, if he is on campus, he must have a food plan
If he has an $8000 “gap” why would he get a refund?
A meal plan isn’t required at all Florida schools. UF doesn’t require them, even for kids living in the dorms.
Bright Futures is a refundable scholarship at MOST Florida schools. BF leaves it up to the school on how to restrict the scholarships. Most schools will use the outside scholarships first, so that if they are restricted to tuition that won’t be a problem. Then the school will apply its own funds (merit scholarships) and then refund anything left over. If you have Florida prepaid also, and choose to use it, it is applied first, before BF, so the BF amount is often refunded.
You can ask at the school. The school will not keep a balance carried over from year to year. If you really have a lot in excess scholarships, you can ask the provider to hold the fund until the next year and some will do that.
Where some schools bill room and board asseparate line items, it looks at UCF list it as one lime item and does not separate the cost. They give cost of attendance as on campus or wth parents
@twoinanddone thank you!
@thumper1 public school florida. They bill tuition/fees/room if living on campus/food plan if choose one…so my son will not be purchasing a meal plan. After tuition/fees/room the balance is given to the student for living costs that are not billed directly by the university but are factored into their published COA. That 8,000 gap is with the highest housing, meal plan, and lots of “personal expenses”…I’ve heard the kids can really cut the costs from the university’s published COA, so he may be able to save some of his scholarship money.
If your son is living in the dorms without a meal plan, how are they going to eat? I am not a fan of cheaping out in ways that will cost you in the long run…
If your answer is they will grocery shop and cook, I think this is a bad move. First of all, you need to put value on your time. This includes time to purchase food meal plan, prep and cook food, eat and clean up after themselves especially ina shared space.
I can see this getting real old real fast especially if cooking prepping meals cuts in his being able to socialize, meet friends, study or hold down an on campus job. I would just bite the bullet freshman year until your son can get their bearings, adjust to college life and get a routine together,
@sybbie719 we plan on putting money in his account and doing a declining balance. It’s not about cheating, but about what we think is best (primarily him). He is very picky and eats a bigger breakfast than any other meal. I don’t think he will cook, but I also don’t think he would eat at the meal plan locations often.
He hasn’t made that final decision yet, but we won’t allow him to go hungry! He may choose a lesser meal plan than unlimited…not sure yet.
Hi, I meant to write cheaping out not cheating
@sybbie719 I would worry that he would try to get his money’s worth, but he’s a different kind of kid than some. We planned on taking care of his food and making sure he always has money to eat!
I remember seeing kids that weren’t eating when I went to college. I didn’t have a food plan at UF when I went, but I never went without.
I can see that thinking saving money could backfire. Thanks for the advice!
My daughter’s (mandatory) freshman meal plan was $2800 per semester. She could use Dining Dollars ($500 of it) for coffees, smoothies, at the deli, pizza (even delivered), etc. No way did she come close to using it all. As a sophomore, with the same set up except it was all dining dollars and they took a certain amount each time she entered the dining room (like $10) and only $1700 per semester, she still didn’t come close to using it all. She could cook in her suite, the school had a grocery store where she could order steak, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper, and everything else, and she STILL couldn’t go through all the credit on her plan. She had a plan after she moved off campus because her athletic scholarship paid for it. She was constantly swiping her friends into the dining room and still couldn’t use it all.
Some kids are hashers at the sororities houses and eat that way. Others work at the dining halls, or at restaurants. Some are pretty good at cooking or snacking on salads and other food, eating out and taking half home for the next meal.
My son in his freshmen year lives on campus and has no meal plan. It works great. He has a bigger fridge than most kids. He saves lots of $.