The Latin American and Caribbean Scholarship, per Florida Statute, allows Florida universities to assess in-state tuition for residents of certain Latin American and Caribbean countries. In the Spring of 2025, changes in federal guidance from the US Department of Education prompted the Florida Board of Governor’s to suspend awarding the LAC scholarship to new applicants. |
Students currently receiving an LAC scholarship awarded for Spring 2025 or earlier remain eligible for the award throughout their studies as long as they remain continuously enrolled (excluding summers) and meet the minimum cumulative GPA requirement each semester. The student's award letter explicitly states that the award is renewable (see sample letter below).
Effective Fall 2025, the LAC will no longer be available to new, incoming students. However, the LAC will continue to be awarded to returning students who have previously received the LAC and who have maintained eligibility. The Florida Board of Governors (BOG) has requested that we pause our LAC application and review process, which is why the details have been removed from our website. If you have questions, please contact the Office of International Affairs at international@uwf.edu or +1-850-474-2479.
The Board of Governors communicated to UWF’s General Counsel that if a student has been promised an award (i.e., the scholarship has been awarded but not yet disbursed), UWF should fulfill the promise and continue with disbursement(s). The example explained that students awarded multi-year LAC scholarships that included the 2025-2026 academic year should continue to be disbursed for the 2025-2026 academic year. However, no new awards will be given.
While the BOG’s specific terminology used the words “promised” and “awarded”, those two words have different meanings for all SUS Financial Aid Directors. Since no students, including those “promised” awards have been “awarded” (i.e., actual scholarship on financial aid package) for the 2025-2026 academic year, UWF’s interpretation is solely based on “promised” awards to current student LAC recipients. UWF will continue to honor promised scholarships to current students by awarding and disbursing in the 2025-2026 academic year and forward until a student becomes otherwise ineligible or reaches the maximum credit hour or time limit, whichever comes first.
UWF’s interpretation and implementation of the BOG’s guidance aligns with all the sister State University Systems.