Multiple schools listed in this thread give 100% full COA for NMF, so why is TT’s “the nations most generous”? And are the others not a “traditional college experience”? Just curious.
No, most schools don’t give 100% of COA for NMF @BMC9670 Texas Tech is the most generous because they give a ‘true full ride’ others give a traditional ‘full ride’ of tuition, books, room and board and some even give other perks like $ for semester abroad or a computer but TT gives NM scholars tuition, room and board, and books AND pays for travel (air fare) between home and school AND a stipend for living expences (shampoo, dry cleaning what ever…) what other NM scholarship does that? UTD gives a large amount in stipends so if you live frugally you can cover living expenses after freshman year but it’s not enough to cover flying home for breaks
As for the “traditinal college experience” some feel that they won’t get what ever that is at a smaller school or a school with no foot ball team. Personally I think the “college experiences” is what one makes of it.
Please don’t rule out “southern” schools, and have her at least look at W&L. My daughter has the Johnson Scholarship and that is a true COA scholarship–the deadline is December 1, and good stats and a fabulous essay can get her to the scholarship weekend. Your child’s stats are actually better than my daughter’s – she didn’t study for her AP tests, so her scores were all over the place. Although it has a “southern” feel, the administration is making strides towards changing that, and her professors are AMAZING. The student body is engaged and intelligent.
I would also stress Tulane might be in New Orleans, but the largest number of students come from California, New York, and then Louisiana. It does NOT feel like the south. There are lots of merit scholarships there.
@3scoutsmom Doesn’t the Benaquisto in Florida cover full COA? That’s my understanding.
It’s cool they pitch in for some incidentals, but to me, full COA scholarship schools (yes, they are true full COA - many kids have said they end up with money left over) with higher tuition and housing rates and higher rank would be a “more generous” scholarship because it’s worth more.
UTD is the only one with no football, and none of them are exactly small - most are really big. It’s all good. Hard to go wrong with a full ride anywhere and get an undergrad degree with no debt!
It depends on how they determine COA for the state of FL some schools cover transportation in COA and others do not. Although Benaquisto funds can be used for travel there may or may not be enough funds to cover actual travel costs. Travel is a very personal expense. I doubt FL’s COA covers travel expenses to HI but but Texas Tech’s NM Scholarship expressly covers travel.
I’m also not clear if the Benaquisto covers FL’s required summer semester or not. Does anyone else know how they handle this?
I’m curious, what is TT’s travel policy? I’m sure it has limits, yes?
“I’m also not clear if the Benaquisto covers FL’s required summer semester or not. Does anyone else know how they handle this?”
It does not pay for summer school, but you only pay in state summer school tuition even if you are OOS. Very cheap. Also, even though the state of Fl requires some summer school it is relatively easy to get a waiver, at least at FSU.
As for “full” COA, Benacquisto does include funds for travel, books, incidentals, etc…above and beyond tuition, room and board. It just depends on how you spend the money, as food and rent vary. My son had about $1,500 left in his account after paying for everything with Benacquisto freshman year, which he used for the summer.
I believe Benequisto covers TEN semesters instead of eight. I have heard that that last year can apply toward a grad or professional degree if the regular undergraduate coursework has been completed. This is a really good deal, especially if you enter the school with dual enrollment or AP credits that put the student closer to only needing 3 years of college.
Wait, really? I thought only UAlabama covered 5 years. Hmm.
OK, I went back to look at the pdf for the Benacquisto: https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/PDF/factsheets/FIS_FAQ.pdf
It does say it covers a max of 10 semesters, but it also says it only covers enough for the completion of the baccalaureate degree. So, does anyone know if a year of graduate work could be included? It sounds like it couldn’t.
At UCF it can not be applied to Grad school. We are encouraging our daughter to pursue a double major, but they said it is for undergrad only. At least that is the information we got.
This is an excellent plan. We will definitely look at double majors for our D as well if she decides to go to one of the Florida schools.
UTD only gives 8 semester but you can use them for grad school. If you have enough AP/DE credits and you do the Fast Trck program you can get both a BS and Masters covered by the NM scholarship. That’s what both my boys plan to do.
@BMC9670 I Googled your question for you, TT gives $2,300 annually for transportation https://www.depts.ttu.edu/admissions/NationalMerit/
@FrozenMaineMom: Thanks for your reply. Did she consider U Florida? It seems rated highly in USNews and offers full COA. We are planning to visit UF, UCF and USF later this month
UF is the #7 public university and #34 overall - on par with Georgia Tech, Michigan, UNC, Wisconsin, etc. Very good numbers. FSU is #18/#57. Also highly ranked.
Of course, it’s not all about rank, but we’ll certainly be visiting these.
@tnknes We actually did not go tour UF for a few reasons even though it has a fantastic rating/reputation. Our biggest reason was that we are out of state and this was the very first year UF was going to offer full coa for National Merit Finalists – they did not exactly advertise it a year ago and it was hard to get anyone there to confirm how it worked. They also could not guarantee, unlike UCF and USF, that they would continue that full COA for out of state NMFs if the funding from FL was taken away in a year or two. Maybe now they are guaranteeing that? There were some less significant reasons for us – living close to an airport was important, and my daughter just fell in love with the Towers living scenario and then couldn’t get excited about a traditional dorm room. They also really seemed to WANT the NMFs at UCF, whereas UF doesn’t really need them as much since they already have such great ratings 
Does the Benacquisto really cover a double major? From the reading of the program, I looks like they cover a max of 120 credit hours over max of 10 semesters. Can you can get a double major in 120 credits?
From the program:
• This program will provide funds for 100 percent of the number of credit hours required to complete a baccalaureate degree program, or until completion of a baccalaureate degree program, whichever comes first.
• Extended hours of funding are available to students enrolled in a single program of study requiring more than 120 hours by submitting the following application, “Extended Hours Application.”
• A student is eligible to receive an award for a maximum of 10 semesters or 15 quarters.
This needs clarification. The Benequisto states 10 semesters (5 years), yes, but also states a max of 120 credit hours toward a single degree.
My daughter didn’t get the benacquisto but BF, which are run by the same agency. Her degree (at a private Florida school) required 131 credits to graduate. She was indeed cut off after 120 credits even though she only went to school for 8 semesters (I think in her final semester BF paid for 2-3 credits).
I don’t know if this is correct, but I think if she’d been in a public school BF would have paid by semester and not credit?