Thank you Mamareeb and cc665544. I do see the Benacquisto but the amount offered is $21,210.00, which is the total cost of attendance for in-state. But it also states in the same financial aid page that the estimated total cost of attendance is 59,746.00. for OOS. So I am confused.
@Eskimo7 My DD is at UCF on the Benacquisto and an out of state student. They give her instate tuition and its listed on her financial that way, but reported as the full cost of attendance for outstate for tax purposes. i would contact your financial aid person.
Thank you @Philipper. Someone from the State of Florida told me that out-of-state applicants will also automatically receive a full out-of-state tuition waiver from the university. The out-of-state tuition waiver portion is paid out by the university and it is the requirement of the Benacquisito scholarship that the university pick up the amount for the waiver. But I don’t know if I understood this correctly. Why the universities (both UF and UCF) don’t list the waiver on the financial aid page of the student is a mystery that need to be unraveled.
University of Florida financial aid officer told me that out of state waiver for Benacquisto will only be visible on students financial aid page after the add and drop date. It is really strange how they do it.
And then they waive the OOS tuition.
One reason the scholarship doesn’t show up until after the add/drop day is they want to make sure the student is still in school 2-3 weeks after the start of the semester. That is how Bright Futures works too. BF/Benac are run by a state agency, not the schools, so if the student isn’t in school, the agency would have paid the school and then the school would have to reverse the process and it becomes sort of messy.
My daughter dropped a class after the school had already been paid and the school had to return the money and then school had to bill daughter. It was only for about $250 but it was still a pain. If it had been $20k? Really messy.
This thread and others that I’ve seen have been extremely informative regarding NMF, Benacquisto and UCF/UF. Thank you all for that! Are there any Hurricanes out there, or families that have negotiated with UM but turned down what they were offered by UM to go somewhere else? DS21 gets his PSAT scores in a few weeks and we are anticipating NMSF/NMF based on his 1560 SAT score. I am very excited about the possibility of a full ride at either UM, UCF, or UF, and I would prefer UM since I’m an alumna. However it doesn’t seem like they are as eager to attract NMF as the other two are. And they only gave five kids Stamps scholarships for 2019 so there seems to be a lot less money there.
@sherimba03 some posters have reported being offered Singer + Benacquisto, which comes to essentially a full ride. Not as much of a sure thing as UCF or even UF, but still a better chance than just Stamps. D20 (and her parents) are hoping for that combo!
@sherimba03 Don’t quote me on this, but since UM is private, the Benaquisto doesn’t cover as much. The student gets whatever the highest COA is at the highest cost state school or something like that. This thread has some info:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-miami-florida/2088224-chances-for-merit-scholarship-at-um.html
As @VryCnfsd said, UM has previously said they will stack to get closer to a full ride. I know this has been discussed before. You might want to try searching the forum.
Into Google, try pasting site:collegeconfidential.com “Miami” “Benaquisto”
That should give you a good start.
@sherimba03 Miami offered my OOS NMF son the full tuition Singer scholarship, plus the $22,000 in so in Benacquisto, plus a departmental scholarship, up to a full ride. He did turn it down, but he is a music student who wanted to study with a particular teacher at another school.
Hi, I saw all the information you posted regarding your son being a NMF at UF. If you don’t mind, I have a question about the dorms. As part of the Benacquisto scholarship for NMF basically as I read it everything is covered including room and meals. Do you know if you can choose any on campus dorm no matter the cost and it will be covered or are you limited to a certain amount? You also mentioned your son chose not to do the meal plan. Was I reading it right that they then just put the meal money in his bank account and he could spend it however he wanted? Thank you very much for your help.
ssekeres My son is on the Benaquisto at UF. The Benaquisto gives the University of your students choice, the Full Cost Of Attendance dollar amount for the highest state school. It changes slightly each year.
This amount covers 15 hours of Instate tuition, (out of state tuition is waived), fees, room, a meal plan, travel, cell phone, lap top, clothes etc. This set amount is sent to the University for all Benacquisto scholars.
My son chose to live at Hume Hall, the Honors dorm, for two tears now. It is the most expensive. However, he has no meal plan. Each semester, UF pays his tuition, fees, room and board, if he has one. (he doesn’t) They then transfer the excess to his personal bank account. He is free to spend the $ on anything he wants. A frugal student will return home each semester with $.
I recommend the Honors Dorm (HUME) as the kids are all “study” oriented there. The dorm is very nice, has a great location and has it own parking garage. They also have fun! Definitely skip the meal plans. The students should pocket the funds and buy their own meals. They will come out ahead financially. The Benacquisto is a Full Cost Scholarship. It covers all needs with $ left over. It does not cover summers Over seas!
Additionally, if your student arrives with outside scholarships, that amount will also be deposited in his account after bills are paid.
Thank you. This is super helpful!
I just looked at the UF website and the info on the Benacquisto only seems to apply to Florida residents. Is it out of date or might it have changed again?
@rmulvane , the Benacquisto has not changed. It still covers OOS NMFs. Google Benacquisto Scholarship and pull up the state financial aid pdf, which says:
A student who is a non-Florida resident seeking initial funding must:
• Earn a high school diploma comparable to a standard Florida high school
diploma or its equivalency (or completes a home education program).
• Be a 2019 National Merit® Scholar.
• Enroll at an eligible Florida postsecondary institution during the 2019-20 Fall
academic term following high school graduation.
• Physically reside in Florida on or near the institution’s campus where enrolled.
Thanks. I was looking at the info on the UF website under scholarships. My son is class of 2021, so trying to determine his best options. I know sometimes schools change awards from one year to the next.
Hello all,
New poster here. Found this site and thread super helpful around college reviews and specifically the NMF scholarships. I do have a few questions about benacquisto at UF (after going through this thread). DS is NMF OOS CS Major:
- How is summer sem covered? I see there is a 6 hour requirement for summer. Is this where we look for internships (as an elective course). If a student takes courses, that comes out of his pocket?
- In the NMF letter, it states that one can only accept one award from NM. So, corporate award though NM cannot stack with Benacquisto or is it that it won't stack with the $500 from UF (through NM)?
- Lastly, DS got into NC State (in-state, we live in the Raleigh area) and UF. Major is CS. We are favoring UF since it is fully covered and schools are similar in ranking (location wise Raleigh is better due to RTP). But NCSU comes to 25K per year for in-state. Would like to know if I missed anything here in the comparison between the schools?
- Who do I contact for AP credits at UF? Admissions or Engg school. Any pointers if they provide credits for OOS
Lastly, UF admissions does not seem to know specific info about Benacquisto (esp what happens if the scholarship is pulled by FL senate in the future). I believe that will be a minor risk (but scary) going with UF.
Many thanks!
@volleyforlife , summer is not covered by Benacquisto at all, but UF might charge in state for summer to its Benacquisto recipients. Check with them. That’s what FSU does.
If you take the corporate, your child is a National Merit Scholar which qualifies for Benacquisto. You can’t get the $500 college based scholarship if you took the corporate.
I’ve always disregarded concerns about the Fla Legislature defunding or cancelling OOS Benacquisto (or Benacquisto in general, for that matter). But we are in new times, with state tax revenues in free fall, unemployment above 30%, etc…If this last through the summer, the legislature just might have to take an ax to its budget and who knows what programs will survive. It’s a particular concern with UF, which does not have large OOS scholarship programs of its own and has steadfastly refused to guarantee a Benacquisto level schoolarship to existing UF recipients if the program is cancelled. In contrast, FSU and UCF are safer bets because they have stated they would continue to fund the scholarship
@vistajay I know UCF guarantees scholarship for NMF even if the state defunds Benacquisto. Does FSU offers this guarantee?
@tnknes, they have to me. Others have posted the same.