Canadian Healthcare from a Canadian...

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by BigSKINBauer

What the f... Full scholarship for getting a 1270? Well i guess i should have lived in florida. Seriously, just about everyone at my high school broke a 1270

Yeah. I think the 3.5 GPA might be a bigger obstacle. But, I don't think they want to make it too difficult. After all, they are trying give as many kids a chance at free college as they can. If you do an average to good job in high school, then you get the scholarship.

Also, the primary education curriculum in Florida is mostly a joke. Kids struggle to get 3.0 GPAs, and most of them have a hard time passing the standardized test (FCAT). I was pretty shocked when I got there. During my Senior year, we didn't study a single thing that I hadn't already studied during my previous years in Texas. I just breezed right through that year, but isn't that how your Senior year is supposed to be?

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by GhettoDogAllStars

Yeah. I think the 3.5 GPA might be a bigger obstacle. But, I don't think they want to make it too difficult. After all, they are trying give as many kids a chance at free college as they can. If you do an average to good job in high school, then you get the scholarship.

Also, the primary education curriculum in Florida is mostly a joke. Kids struggle to get 3.0 GPAs, and most of them have a hard time passing the standardized test (FCAT). I was pretty shocked when I got there. During my Senior year, we didn't study a single thing that I hadn't already studied during my previous years in Texas. I just breezed right through that year, but isn't that how your Senior year is supposed to be?

Wait, so they just give tuition money to any kid who does well in GPA and SAT? Are there any maximum household income cutoffs? Does the tuition money only apply to state schools??

I'm just dumbfounded that a state could afford to give money to ALL good students, regardless whether their families are rich or poor, and regardless of where they plan to attend college.

I went to a public school in PA, had a 3.95 high school GPA, a 1380 SAT, never got in trouble, but my parents made more than $150,000 between them. Would I have qualified for free tuition if I did that in a Florida high school???

I just can't believe that, there has to be some kind of limitation. With the money my parents made, there's no reason we needed the help.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Wait, so they just give tuition money to any kid who does well in GPA and SAT? Are there any maximum household income cutoffs? Does the tuition money only apply to state schools??

I'm just dumbfounded that a state could afford to give money to ALL good students, regardless whether their families are rich or poor, and regardless of where they plan to attend college.

I went to a public school in PA, had a 3.95 high school GPA, a 1380 SAT, never got in trouble, but my parents made more than $150,000 between them. Would I have qualified for free tuition if I did that in a Florida high school???

I just can't believe that, there has to be some kind of limitation. With the money my parents made, there's no reason we needed the help.

I'm pretty sure there are no income restrictions. My parents also made over 150K between them, and I got the scholarship.

Yes, the money only applies to schools in the state of Florida. However, it applies to all of them. You can go to public or private, but if you choose private you don't get near as much tuition money. They say it's 75% or 100%, but the way they figure it is by comparing the private school to an equivalent public school, and then they give you the percentage of that public school's tuition costs.

For example, I was first considering attending the University of Tampa, a private school. They would only offer me about 2K per year, which was only about 10% of the tuition. So, I decided to go to USF, and because it's a public school they pay the straight up percentage of your tuition.

Lab fees are not included in the scholarship, and there are credit requirements. In the summer you have to take 6 credits or more to receive the funding, and in the spring and fall you have to take 12 credits. However, if you skip a semester, or don't meet the credit requirements, they don't take the scholarship away from you. You just don't get the money for the semesters you don't meet the credit requirements.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by GhettoDogAllStars

I'm pretty sure there are no income restrictions. My parents also made over 150K between them, and I got the scholarship.

Yes, the money only applies to schools in the state of Florida. However, it applies to all of them. You can go to public or private, but if you choose private you don't get near as much tuition money. They say it's 75% or 100%, but the way they figure it is by comparing the private school to an equivalent public school, and then they give you the percentage of that public school's tuition costs.

For example, I was first considering attending the University of Tampa, a private school. They would only offer me about 2K per year, which was only about 10% of the tuition. So, I decided to go to USF, and because it's a public school they pay the straight up percentage of your tuition.

Lab fees are not included in the scholarship, and there are credit requirements. In the summer you have to take 6 credits or more to receive the funding, and in the spring and fall you have to take 12 credits. However, if you skip a semester, or don't meet the credit requirements, they don't take the scholarship away from you. You just don't get the money for the semesters you don't meet the credit requirements.

Damn, that's a pretty amazing program.

Any knowledge as to why the public school system sucks so bad down there? I'm just curious.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Damn, that's a pretty amazing program.

Any knowledge as to why the public school system sucks so bad down there? I'm just curious.

I agree, it's a great program. I wish it would be implemented on a national level. The only problem is that it would increase taxes. In Florida the program is funded by the lottery, and since we don't have a national lottery, that wouldn't be an option. Of course, if it were implemented on a national level, there would most certainly be income restrictions -- which wouldn't be a bad thing considering tax dollars would fund it.

I'm not really sure why the public schools suck. I've heard that the funding for each school is based on their academic performance. So, it seems schools have an incentive for boosting GPAs. Tough curriculum = lower GPAs = less funding. I don't really have a credible source for that information, it's just hearsay. But, I think it was a teacher who told me that.