Scholarships

Scholarships are gift aid that does not have to be repaid. SF students receive scholarships from four sources: SF institutional, the SF Foundation, third-party (outside), and state. Each source has its own application path and disbursement pattern, and all of them count as aid toward Cost of Attendance.

When a scholarship pushes total aid over the cost of attendance, SF reduces other aid to stay within the limit, loans first and then need-based grants. A student who has not yet accepted a loan can avoid a loan reduction by declining it before the scholarship posts. Starting with the 2026-27 award year, a student whose grants and scholarships from non-federal sources cover the entire cost of attendance is not eligible for a Pell Grant at all.

SF Institutional Scholarships

SF funds these scholarships and awards them through Student Affairs. A completed FAFSA is required for every institutional scholarship, need-based or merit-based. International students who cannot file the FAFSA complete other forms SF provides to establish financial need.

There are two paths:

• Need-based institutional scholarships are awarded automatically from the FAFSA, with no separate application, prioritized by financial need and then by earliest FAFSA submission date.
• Everything else uses the SF General Scholarship Application, where one application is considered for every scholarship that uses it. Some scholarships add their own requirements, such as an audition, a portfolio, or membership in a program, and a few tied to a program or role (athletics, Student Government, academic teams) select through that office instead.

The full list of institutional scholarships, with the criteria for each, lives on the college's scholarship page [WEB LINK: SF institutional scholarships page].

Foundation Scholarships

Foundation scholarships are funded through the Santa Fe College Foundation. Key facts about how they work:

• Donors create individual scholarship funds, and one application through the Foundation's scholarship portal [WEB LINK: SF Foundation scholarships page] covers all of them.
• Filing the FAFSA is not required.
• Foundation awards typically disburse mid-semester, later than federal and state aid, so a student counting on one for early-semester costs should plan around that timing.
• Apply through the SF Foundation scholarship portal and check the SF email on file after applying, since the Foundation communicates there.
• For application windows and fund details, see the SF Foundation scholarships page or email foundation.scholarships@sfcollege.edu.

Third-Party Scholarships

Third-party scholarships come from organizations beyond the college: employers, community groups, civic clubs, religious organizations, and foundations. SF receives the funds and credits them to the student's account but does not award them or decide eligibility. The check has to be made payable to Santa Fe College, with the student's name and SF ID on it. Drop it off at the Cashier's Office, or mail it to:

Santa Fe College
Office for Finance
Attn: Student Financial Services
3000 NW 83rd St, F-26
Gainesville, FL 32606

Once the college receives the check, it can take several days for the scholarship to post to the student's account. To confirm the check was received, contact the Cashier's Office.

State Scholarships

Florida runs several state scholarship programs. The largest is the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, a per-credit-hour award for Florida high school graduates. Two smaller programs come up most often:

CSDDV (Children and Spouses of Deceased or Disabled Veterans)

• Who qualifies: dependent children (16 to 22 at initial eligibility) and un-remarried spouses of a Florida veteran who died of a service-connected cause, holds an FDVA-certified service-connected total and permanent disability, or was classified POW or MIA. It covers tuition and required registration fees.
• How and where to apply: on the Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA) using the veteran's information so the FDVA can certify eligibility, by April 1 of the year before the funding semester.
• Where questions go: SF processing questions go to the Veterans and Military Success Services Office (R-110), and eligibility questions go to OSFA at 1-888-827-2004.

HDGAP (Honorably Discharged Graduate Assistance Program)

• Who and what: a need-based benefit for post-9/11 veterans, up to $50 per day for 20 days per academic year ($1,000 maximum) toward living expenses during the breaks between fall and spring, not tuition.
• Certification deadline: SF certifies eligible students to OSFA by November 1, so a student should contact the Financial Aid Office well before then.
• Limited funding: funding is limited and may run out at the first break.

For other state scholarships, see the state's site at floridastudentfinancialaid.org [WEB LINK: floridastudentfinancialaid.org]. FSAG and FGMG are state grants, not scholarships, and have their own articles.

How Scholarships Hold a Schedule

Once a scholarship posts to the Financial Aid Portal [WEB LINK: eSantaFe login] as an accepted award, it generates a deferment that holds the student's schedule until the scholarship disburses. Bright Futures requires SF to be listed as the attending institution in the student's OSFA account [WEB LINK: OSFA student portal] before its deferment can generate. State veteran scholarships sometimes disburse after the drop/add date, so a recipient may pay out of pocket at the start of the semester and be reimbursed once the award posts.

Finding More Scholarships

The SF Career Exploration Center [WEB LINK: Career Exploration Center page] maintains scholarship search resources and offers one-on-one help for students searching for outside scholarships.