Never will another Florida State University student spend their freshman year where I did: coping with the thrills, disappointments and sheer journey into the unknown brought on by spending the year in Kellum Hall. Kellum Hall has been razed. A patch of gravel (pictured above) is all that is left on the footprint of a place where many of my friends and I experienced that critical freshman year.
The ten winners of the Florida Prepaid Scholarship Giveaway will have to start freshman year somewhere rather than Kellum, but the good news is they will start freshman year knowing they have the financial jump-start of a 2-year Florida College Plan, valued at more than $8,000, courtesy of the Florida Prepaid College Board.
I’ll share the details of how to enter (it’s simple!), but if the idea of the Florida Prepaid Program is new to you, a brief comment about why it’s so incredible.
About Saving for College and Why College Matters
According to the How America Saves for College 2016 report, only 2 out of 5 families have a plan to pay for college — even though a postsecondary degree is more necessary than ever for career success. According to state projections, 59 percent of all jobs in Florida will require postsecondary education by 2018.
If you are not as prepared to fund your child’s education as you hoped to be, this does not reflect a lack of love for your child or children. Instead, it puts you in the majority, among the 3 out of 5 families without a plan to pay for college.
To celebrate National College Savings Month, why not enter this contest for a chance to give your child a powerful head start?
It worked out well for this family, who won a scholarship from last year’s contest:
How to Enter
When: Register between now and October 23
Where: Click here to enter (remember you can enter daily)
What You Can Win: In addition to registering to win one of the ten 2-year plans, when you click on the entry link, you can earn extra entries by answering questions, learning more about saving for college, and sharing on social media. There will also be chances to win a total of 50 weekly prizes.
Eligibility: Open to legal residents in the state of Florida with children or grandchildren between the ages of newborn through 8th grade.
Beyond the contest period, prepaid plans will be available for purchase throughout open enrollment, which begins October 15, 2016, and ends February 28, 2017.
This post is sponsored by the Florida Prepaid College Board, through my role as a Believer Blogger. All thoughts are my own.
Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.
I realized quickly that there was more we could have done to prepare for college expenses!
Oh us too, for sure. We are so grateful that my parents got prepaid plans for Tenley and Wayne when they were newborns, but we would have been SO wise to have added on, for example, 529 plans to help with books/housing/expenses. Hopefully some FL parents of newborns through 8th graders will get a head start via one of these scholarships.