Where does the money go?

Paying for College
1

So I am fortunate enough to have Florida pre paid. However, I also qualify for the top bright futures scholarship. In addition to that FSU is offering me money if I choose to go there. What portion of that money goes to the Florida pre paid so that my father ends up spending less of his money in his pre paid account, and what money would go to me and not interact with the Florida pre paid?

2

???

You’ll get your FSU award
You’ll get your BF award

Then, whatever is left to pay, can be paid from the prepaid acct.

What are you asking??

3

So then all of the money I’m rewarded from FSU and Bright Futures would just reduce the amount of money needed from the prepaid account?

4

No, just don’t use your prepaid. Save if for a time when you need it - grad school, 5th year. I worked with a guy who had prepaid for 4 years of tuition and one year of R&B. His son got a full ride to UNC, so his prepaid is just sitting there, waiting for him. Father is hoping he can use it for grad school, but if not the father will get it back.

Call the prepaid program and ask if you can use it for a partial year. I believe the BF is refunded to you if your costs all all covered by other funds, much like a Pell grant would be, so if you get the full FSU award, you’ll get money in your pocket.

5

So in short only use the prepaid I would have to and then save the rest for later?

6

Well, I’m not sure if they let you use partial prepaid terms. You may have to make a decision between using it for a semester or saving it, a sort of ‘all or nothing’. However, if you use Prepaid to cover tuition, you’ll get the amount of BF refunded to you. I’m not sure how the FSU merit works, but usually schools won’t refund the merit. They may refund an equal amount from the Prepaid, but there might be tax consequences. That’s why you need to call the Prepaid office and ask (or call FSU’s prepaid office and ask).

The people in these offices, both school and Prepaid, are remarkably well trained, but I’ve found the frustration is they know their specialty very well, but nothing about another area. The BF person knows all about BF, but nothing about Prepaid. The merit aid guy can’t tell you much about BF or Prepaid, etc, etc. Another person might be the specialist in state grants but knows little about Pell.

Frustrating, but worth it to get the aid.