I haven’t read all 10 pages, but did see these in the first fewpages.
My understanding is you get either the Benacquisto or Bright Futures, not both.
Once he’s a PWO at Stanford, there is no great financial aid. PWO get no financial aid. If they could do that, the coach could just give the 85 scholarships to the rich kids and let the rest of the team get need based FA. No, the NCAA could see right through that plan. They might (but I don’t think so) be eligible for merit aid, but there is none at Stanford. Other schools are VERYVERYVERY careful about aid to athletes. The PWO get nothing at most schools, but they can now eat with the team and can get the benefits when traveling with the team. PWOs are eligible for a Pell grant or SEOG but that’s about it.
There is also a limit to stacking at D1 football. The players can get a stipend or Pell, but not both.
Your FPP is, of course, yours and if you don’t use it for college can take it as a 529 withdrawal during school or after. I don’t know if the total would be $70k; that really depends on your plan.
If money will be a factor, I’d sit down with the NCAA coordinator at any school before accepting. They’ll be able to tell you what you can accept and what you can’t. The coaches won’t know the nitty gritty. The people at UF should be able to tell you whether he can get anything more than the Benacquisto (maybe local OUTSIDE scholarships, but most likely nothing from UF itself). There also might be a restriction on getting money back, so if you use the FPP and want to get a refund of Benacquisto, that might be disallowed by the NCAA. They will apply FPP first if you use FPP for that term.
You would use the Benacquisto and get a refund on FPP. As for Stanford PWO means no athletic money. For FA Stanford offers free tuition for any family that makes $125,000 or less…room and board would be covered by FPP and outside scholarships but at this point Stanford hasn’t offered.
For clarification…PWO means a guaranteed roster spot(which involves all activities of other players) but just no athletic money. Still same access to training, practice, facilities, locker, equipment etc…
Folks. Many of you don’t understand how good a school UF has become over the years. It is a top 10 us public and top 50 USNWR. There are many Vals sals and nmf is the student body. The honors program is filled with 35 act and 1500 sat students as well. Even the regular uf kid is a star in their school. It’s more like UCLA unc and Michigan than what you may be comparing it to. The scholarships and excess cash are valuable.
And everyone is comparing to Harvard and Princeton or Yale. If those are the choices. Sure. It if it’s D B C or C. no way. Penn maybe.
A better alumni network than uf. Other than h and p it is just not accurate. It’s a popular belief. It would appear that way to those who have no part of either uf or non hpys alumni groups. Quite frankly ut Auburn etc have really loyal networks. Uf isn’t that loyal but gator nation is a thing. The kind that get you jobs kind of thing.
And I would strongly challenge “the look at all the money the Ivy League cs kid will make” over the uf honors kid. It’s heresay and supposition. No facts I can find on that in any way.
In sports other than football and basketball, student-athletes who do not receive an athletic scholarship can receive non-athletically related aid without restriction. In football and basketball, to maximize the amount of non-athletic aid an athlete can receive, they must be non-recruited under the NCAA’s definition.
If an athlete is recruited and plays football or basketball, he or she may not receive institutional financial aid without becoming a counter and counting against the scholarship limits. Outside aid like federal Pell grants or state grants would be allowed, but the athlete could not receive any of the need and even academic aid a school offers.
To be a recruited athlete but still meet the definition of nonrecruited, athletes should focus their recruiting efforts with the coaching staff around phone calls and unofficial visits. If you let the coaching staff know you are interested in walking on provided you can get other aid, they will be careful to not change your status as recruited vs. nonrecruited. Also apply early and get your financial aid information like the FAFSA to the school as soon as possible to maximize the amount of aid you are eligible for."
It’s just my understand of how financial aid works once you are a ‘counter’ for a sport. If you get FA, it counts toward the team max of 85 scholarships and the teams will be out of compliance. If all 30-50 walk ons at Stanford got need based financial aid, the team would be giving out 115+ scholarships.
I believe that if you use the FPP, the school will apply it first to the bill. That makes the BF/Benacquisto refundable, and thus makes it possibly taxable income as a scholarship not used for tuition, fees, books… If you don’t ‘use’ the FPP, you can then apply for a refund from FPP and it will be as if you are getting a 529 withdrawal. Most people are finding it best not to use FPP if they have BF or Benacq., and just take the withdrawal.
privatebanker, Florida has been excellent ever since I can remember, particularly in the STEM fields. What separates Michigan from Florida are resources and opportunities.
Just throwing it out that if your son is considering UF, see if he can get his school’s Lombardi nomination. That can make UF even more alluring with summer travel and additional scholarship money. Also keep in mind that Robertson has pretty specific summer requirements which might interfere with football. Congrats to your son. I have 2 non athlete kids who turned down Stanford for full rides at state unis and never looked back. Something tells me your son will be okay. Happy Father’s Day!
Just wanted to update everyone who has followed or contributed to the thread. DS made the choice all on his own and the final decision is UF! There were just too many opportunities and benefits not to choose UF ultimately. When he took his visit to UF for football they basically spent the day showing all the benefits of going there both for football and academics. He was actually pleasantly surprised of how much emphasis they do place on academics for the football players. I will try to breakdown as best as I can what is being offered for both football and academics.
For football they go above and beyond what we expected. He will be a PWO…so guaranteed a roster spot plus all the benefits of kids on scholarship. The way they explained it was in simple terms. You wouldn’t be able to tell who was and wasn’t on scholarship.
Access to the Hawkins Center. Way too much to cover but I’ll post a link:https://www.gatorcountry.com/feature/hawkins-center-shows-florida-gators-commitment-to-student-athletes/
Tutors
First sign up for classes
24/7 Nutritionist for meals
Unlimited grab and go food and drinks
5 Full time personal trainers for football players only
State of the art weight room
Building a new football facility to be completed 2020/2021
Access to top medical facilities/trainers
1st choice dorms
4 free tickets every home game
Indoor field
Best equipment(safety) and locker rooms
Opportunity to win SEC/National Championship
Academically why he chose UF
Had a Florida Pre Paid so full ride
UF is now currently ranked #35 Nationally and rising
Accepted into Honors College so has the option to live in Honors dorm, smaller class sizes
Earned National Merit Finalist so $2,000 from UF
Also earned Benacquisto Scholarship which is 4 years COA
Able to use Pop Warner scholarship of $4,500
Still waiting on other scholarship applications
Awarded the UF Stamps Scholarship which is another $21,600 plus more importantly 4 summer enrichment trips.:three international study abroad programs led by UF faculty and a weeklong leadership expedition.
Essentially beyond the privilege of being able to play SEC football he will also get top academics with a phenomenal alumni network and quite a large sum of money in the bank upon graduation. Top that off with some amazing trips both football and academically and it was just too much to pass up.
@madredos Thank you for the heads up on applying for the Lombardi/Stamps Scholarship. I had no idea that he could stack that with the Benacquisto!
@twoinanddone Thx…the Benacquisto is full ride but it’s more beneficial financially to use the FPP first(purchased in 2003) first and save the Benacquisto, Stamps and other scholarships. He will be doing CS so BS only, no grad school
I think that was a great choice. SEC football is a once in a time opportunity even if he somehow sat on the bench. With his smarts he will do well no matter where he goes.
I am confused about the scholarships. Since Benaquisto anf Stamps are both full rides, why do you need to use your prepaid funds? What is that money being spent on?
@jazzymomof7 The FPP covers full COA at today’s rate. If you cash it in you would only get back the original amount paid in 2003. So using the FPP(1st) allows to get the full COA at today’s rate with the Benacquisto and Stamps into his account.
