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Type of Aid

State-of-Florida merit scholarship for Florida high school graduates who achieved the National Merit® or National Achievement® Scholar designation. This award does not have to be repaid.

Program Details

Enrollment Requirements

• Be a National Merit® Finalist
• Have received a:

• • National Merit® $2,500 Scholarship
  • A Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship
    Note: “Special” Corporate Scholarships do not qualify a student for the Benacquisto Scholarship.

• Be a Florida resident and a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen. Must complete the NSU State Aid Application.
• Earn a standard Florida high school diploma or its equivalency (unless the student completes a home education program or earns a high school diploma from a non-Florida high school while living with a parent who is on military or public service assignment away from Florida), 
• Enroll full-time (minimum of 12 credit hours per term) in a baccalaureate degree program.
• Initially enroll during the fall academic term following high school graduation.

Scholarship Length

• The program provides funds for 100 percent of the number of credit hours required to complete a baccalaureate degree program, or until completion of the baccalaureate degree program, whichever comes first.
• A student is eligible to receive an award for a maximum of 10 semesters.
• A student must maintain enrollment at the institution where the student was initially funded in order to maintain scholarship eligibility.

Award Amounts

• Eligible students will receive an annual award equal to the institutional cost of attendance (COA), minus the sum of the Bright Futures (BF) award and National Merit/Achievement Award® (NM). [Florida Incentive Scholarship Award = COA – (BF+NM)].
• The award may not be used to pay for remedial coursework or developmental education. The award is not available to fund summer coursework.

Renewal Requirements

The award will be renewed automatically, provided the following renewal requirements are met:

• Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
• Earn all credits for which the student is registered at the end of the drop/add period.

A student who does not earn all required credits and/or does not maintain the minimum required GPA will no longer be eligible to receive the award. If the renewal requirements are not met, the award will be lost and cannot be restored.