Jose Marti Scholarship Challenge Grant

Scholarship Sponsored by Florida Student Scholarship Grant Programs

Overview The José Martí Scholarship Challenge Grant Fund is a need-based, merit scholarship that helps qualified students of Hispanic heritage pay for attendance at Florida public colleges and universities or eligible private institutions. Eligibility for the 2025–26 Academic Year Applicants seeking consideration for 2025–26 must meet all of the following: - Application: File a completed, error-free Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA) by April 1, 2025. The FFAA becomes available on October 1, 2024. If a selection order must be established, applicants will be ranked by the date their FFAA was submitted. - Hispanic heritage requirement: Be of Hispanic (Spanish) cultural origin and either be born in, or have a natural parent who was born in, Mexico or a Hispanic country located in the Caribbean, Central America, or South America. Race is not a factor. Applicants with ties only to Brazil, Spain, or Haiti will not be considered for this scholarship. - Academic standard: Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (unweighted on a 4.0 scale) by the end of the seventh semester for undergraduate applicants, based on courses acceptable toward a high school diploma. For applicants seeking a graduate-level award, provide an institutional cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 based on undergraduate college coursework. - Prospective undergraduate students must apply during their senior year of high school and arrange for their high school principal or a designated official to certify the student’s seventh-semester unweighted cumulative GPA online to the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) by the deadline set by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE). - Prospective graduate applicants must have an official in the admissions office of the postsecondary institution they plan to attend certify the institutional cumulative GPA online to OSFA by the date established by FDOE. - Financial need: Demonstrate at least $2,000 of financial need by filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) so it is received and processed without errors by the U.S. Department of Education on or before May 15, 2025. If you meet these conditions and plan to enroll at a Florida public institution or an eligible private college or university, you may be considered for the José Martí Scholarship Challenge Grant Fund for 2025–26.