UCF and Out Of State Aid

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>Could anyone give me a rough idea if I might receive any aid to attend UCF? I am an out of state high school senior from NY.</p>

<p>This sounds like a wonderful school but not affordable if you are an out of state student. My parents are by no means poor but don't have the money to just send me anywhere. They are very against loans and I am somewhat as well. </p>

<p>Here are my "stats".</p>

<p>Currently a high school senior.</p>

<p>25 ACT</p>

<p>3.4 GPA</p>

<p>15 community college credits</p>

<p>Community service hours: 588+</p>

<p>Opened a youth center and planning on opening a hotel.</p>

<p>Clubs: FBLA, Skills USA, church group, deacon,</p>

<p>Multiple national awards in community service.</p>

<p>Was exempted from taking a foreign language in high school due to disability.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>I doubt that you’d get any aid from UCF other than a $5500 loan. Publics charge high OOS costs for a reason. They expect you to pay that much. If your stats were higher, you might get awarded some merit money, but an ACT 25 isn’t high enough to snag good merit at UCF.</p>

<p>You need to find out how much your parents will pay, and then choose schools based on that.</p>

3

<p>Before giving up all hope, contact the school and ask to speak with someone who will answer your questions. And then talk to them in detail about your situation and about what they would advise you to do. Some schools give out University grants to those who demonstrate financial aid and depending on the info on your application, they can match you with different types of scholarships. Be sure to research other scholarships and start applying soon! :slight_smile: Good luck to you! Don’t give up on your dream school just yet.</p>

4

<p>Amber307 - </p>

<p>The OP can “research other scholarships” all he/she wants . . . but it’s highly unlikely that he/she will find a “money fairy” who will fund four years of OOS tuition (plus other costs) at UCF! Outside scholarships, even if they were sufficient to cover that huge expense, are rarely good for more than one year.</p>

<p>The OP doesn’t need to give up on his/her dream school . . . but he or she does need to research affordable options.</p>

5

<p>I ran the NPC for UCF putting in family of 4, OOS student, income 50k-60k. The only aid given was a student loan and possibly a 1000 merit scholarship or grant (this is iffy since they didn’t ask for stats)</p>

<p>The OP doesn’t have the stats for much/any merit. </p>

<p>UCF doesn’t give much/any need-based aid to OOS students.</p>

<p>This isn’t unusual for an OOS public. These schools don’t have much endowments, they don’t have much money of their own to give away. The little aid they do have they likely direct to instate students.</p>

<p>Publics charge high OOS rates for a reason! Wouldn’t make much sense to cover those high costs with aid.</p>

<p>RV…you need to find out how much your parent WILL pay each year. THAT will likely determine where you should apply and where you can afford to go to college.</p>

6

<p>The cost for such a school runs between $35-40K for an out of state student. The COAs don’t begin to address the additional costs that OOS kids will have in transportation and everyday expenses. That is compared to $20K that it will cost you for a live in SUNY. If your family income is under $80K, there may TAP (state grant) funds to defray some of that cost alone with a little merit money for some of the smaller SUNYs. Also after the first year, if you live off campus, kids tend to do well on the economy, beating the COA numbers that these unis use. </p>

<p>You can always give it a go in terms of applying to any school once you have some good schools on your list that you know will accept you and thar are affordable. Those are the most important schools on your list because those are where you are likely to go, so you want to find ones that you like the best and can give you the closest to what you want. Then you can add whatever lottery tickets you want. My son has some friends at University of Tampa, not UCF, but a more expensive private FL school, and I know one of them did get enough from them to make it possible, a nice surprise, not an expectation. So, yes, it can happen, but don’t count on it and have some certainties where you are in the driver’s seat on your list.</p>

7

<p>There are schools in Florida and other parts of the Southeast that will award merit scholarships for stats in your range, but UCF is not one of them. Often these scholarships waive OOS tuition or give some other tuition discount, and often they are called “Academic Excellence”. For example, Florida International University has one for 25 ACT and 3.5 GPA that pays 50% of tuition, and Florida Atlantic has one that covers about 95% of OOS tuition and it requires a 3.5 GPA.</p>

<p><a href=“http://admissions.fiu.edu/financial/scholarships.php[/url]”>http://admissions.fiu.edu/financial/scholarships.php&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.fau.edu/admissions/scholarship-os.php[/url]”>http://www.fau.edu/admissions/scholarship-os.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Some of the Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama schools have similar awards. For example, a 25 ACT and 3.0 GPA is good for 50% reduction of OOS tuition at Mississippi State, and getting the ACT up to 26 would give complete waiver of OOS tuition.</p>

<p><a href=“http://admissions.msstate.edu/scholarships/academic/index.php#nonresident[/url]”>http://admissions.msstate.edu/scholarships/academic/index.php#nonresident&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;