@vistajay will a study abroad experience or online credits help alleviate that cost? So much for graduating debt-free (:
@culverschicken , check with the FL college you are considering about a gap semester and Benacquisto. Six credits online at a FL public for the summer should be less than $800, so yes you can reduce the costs if you do not need housing. Also the summer requirement is routinely waived by dept heads at FL universities for many reasons, including economic hardship.
If “nothing happened this spring of 2020”…does that mean that the program is good to go until spring 2021? What is the status of fall 2020?
@EPallazzo , as others have commented, the current FL budget funds Benacquisto through spring 2021, which of course includes this fall.
Any NMF planning to enroll to University of Florida for Fall 2020? Are you concerned about the potential impact COVID19 and the economic slow down will have on Benacquisto, especially for OOS kids? My D, an aspiting physician, is seriously considering UF from OOS, but the uncertainty about scholarship is giving her a pause. (She has admissions from FSU,UCF and USF, all of which guarantee scholarship for four years even if the state defunds Benacquisto)
@tnknes As you may know from my earlier post, this was part of our decision from OOS. Ultimately, I let my son choose which school he wanted to go to, but as a parent I was concerned about the dynamics between the state and school with the Benacquisto scholarship, especially now with Covid-19.
Our experience has been FSU and UCF explicitly stated that they would fund the student should funding from the state change. UF said in such a case the student may be responsible for OOS tuition. They have said that here on this forum as well (there is an admission person who posts regularly).
So, our decision process was that if the major my son is in is a toss up, he got honors at FSU and not UF, he likes the FSU campus better, and FSU guarantees the money (heck it’s already in his portal), then giving up a few ranking spots is worth it. Both are quality schools.
Thanks @BMC9670. That is our current thinking too. Unfortunately, we did not even get to visit UF or FSU to get a “feel” for the school. Oh, well… It is what it is
@tnknes -our tours were cancelled, as well. We had planned tours at FSU and USF. My D just couldn’t choose a school where she had never stepped foot on campus, so we made our way there and walked around peaking in windows of buildings. We researched all we could online, and I knew the moment we stepped on FSU’s campus, she had found her new home. She chose it over haughty ranked private universities in the Northeast and USC! She LOVES it.
Benacquisto requires students to live near the campus (doesn’t say must be on campus classes) and does not allow a gap year. Who knows how they’ll deal with that if the entire school is online:
•Must be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen as determinedby the institution.
•Earn an approved secondary education credential based on residency status:
•Enroll at an eligible, regionally accredited, public or independent postsecondary institution.
•Enroll full-time (minimum 12 credit hours per term or quarter equivalency) in a baccalaureate degree program.
•Initially enroll at an eligible postsecondary institution during the fall academic term immediately following high school graduation.
•Physically reside in Florida on or near the institution’s campus where enrolled if a non-Florida resident
Just read this whole thread, and will have or Class of 21 DD look into the Florida schools. Is it correct that Benacquisto gives OOS full COA for National Merit Finalists (about 15,000 students), not just National Merit Scholars? Or do you have to be one of the final 7500 “Scholars”?
OK, so I researched my own question, while also recalling what others wrote above. Is my following conclusion accurate?.. The official Benacquisto information says the scholarship is for National Merit “Scholars” and that a Finalist can become a Scholar by receiving one of the 7,500 of so $2500 National Merit Scholarships, or a corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship, or a College-sponsored Merit Scholarship. The schools’ websites say that to qualify you must be designated a Finalist and then the school awards you a smaller scholarship that qualifies as the “college-sponsored merit scholarship”, and thus you become a National Merit Scholar and earn the Benacquisto. Did I get that right? (There might be slight variations between UF, FSU, UCF, and USF.) But you don’t necessarily have to have the NMSC upgrade you to finalist, the Florida schools essentially do that for you? So its not necessarily that they’re luring more of the 7,500 to increase their total number of NMS students, they’re actually creating additional NMS students on top of that 7,500.
@ClassOf21inIowa , you are correct. If you are a Finalist and are admitted to one of the Florida publics, you will get the $500 college award which makes you a Scholar.