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Originally Posted by roseylovestosho  I'm sorry but most scholarships students receive is academic based. If my GPA dropped below a certain point while I was pursuing my undergraduate degree I would no longer qualify for Florida Bright Future Scholarship and I would have to pay for school out of pocket. Furthermore, the reason every state subsidizes education and provide academic-based scholarships is because they want the best and the brightest to stay within the state and not go elsewhere. The state benefits from a better educated workforce, and the state is willing to subsidize schooling for students that show promise in order to have a brighter future-- at least in theory.
Furthermore, there is a big difference between scholarships and financial aid. I received a full-paid scholarship and I qualified for financial aid. I'm not sure what your nephew is talking about but Financial aid are subsidized loans that you take out and you don't have to pay until you graduate- but it's not free. The only thing that is free is a scholarship--which I worked hard for to receive. I graduated from high school with a 6.0 GPA. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with a 3.9 GPA and now I'm in a PhD program that I also have a fully-paid for due to my achievement. |
Actually student aid comes in the form of BOTH grants and loans. Grants do not have to be repaid at all. MANY go to school with a PELL grant that might pay for even more than their tuition, books, and fees! I know some kids who bragged their Pell grant wound up giving them several hundred dollars in spending money each month. Here's a kick in the teeth though -- IF you pay for a Pre-paid College program in Florida, you wind up being disqualified for all of the grants because, you do have the means to go to school. So, be responsible and pre-pay your child's education, and you knock them out of the running for any Pell grant! One more instance of where being responsible DOES NOT get the reward! This made me fairly angry but I am over it now. All things happen for a purpose. My son wound up in a fantastic college that he loves. We are using that pre-paid college program Out-of-state at a private college. Doesn't make a dent! It pays something like $3,000 a year for out-of state but .... at least we didn't loose the money we put in to it.
I do think the Florida Bright Futures is a great [program. It is given based on merit and students have to continue to do well to keep getting the money. It is a reward for performance and not a hand-out!