Ways to Land a Scholarship to Attend Your Dream Florida University

If you have dreams of attending the University of Florida, the University of Miami, Florida State University or some other Florida college or university, you are likely aware of the cost of attendance. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average yearly cost of attending a Florida college if you are an in-state student is over $13,000. Many students rely upon assistance in order to bridge the costs of attending college in Florida between what they or their family can contribute and the total cost of education.

The FAFSA Comes First

Any student in the United States that will rely upon scholarships for any portion of their education must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA. Students submit their FAFSAs online, along with information about their finances as well as that of their parents. The federal government takes the FAFSA information and determines the family’s expected contribution towards the college expenses and the amount of scholarship, loan and grant money that the students are eligible for.

Utilize State Grants First

The best advice when looking for scholarships and grants is to check with your state’s department of education to see what scholarships and grants you are eligible for that they offer. In the case of Florida, students can avail themselves of the following grants from the state:

Bright Futures Scholarship Program: Bright Futures is a merit-based scholarship program with two main awards, the Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) award or the Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS) award. The former requires the student have earned 100 community service hours, have a 3.5 high school GPA, an ACT of 29 or better or a 1290 SAT score. The FMS award requires the student have a minimum of 75 community service hours, a GPA of 3.0 and above and either a 26 ACT score or an SAT score of 1170 or more. Students need to fill out the Florida scholarship application form. The FAS award is for 100 percent of all tuition and fees to be paid by the state.

Florida Student Assistance Grant Program: The FSAG is a need-based grant for undergraduate students. There is a public and private grant, depending upon the type of institution that you will attend. The state legislature sets the maximum award amount per student for the FSAG every year.

Homeless Fee Waiver: Students who are homeless in Florida have their fees waived at public colleges and universities.

Florida also awards grants for higher education to students who are transitioning out of foster care.

Federal Grant

Pell Grant: The Pell Grant is a need-based award for undergraduate students who have exceptional needs. For the 2019-2020 school year, the maximum award per student for a Pell Grant is over $6,000.