The Florida Student Assistance Grant (FSAG) is Florida's largest need-based grant. For 2025-26, it pays $200 to $3,260 a year to Florida residents who show substantial financial need. Unlike Bright Futures, there's no state application. You file the FAFSA, and your college decides whether you get FSAG and how much, using its own deadline.
The figures below are from the Florida Office of Student Financial Assistance's (OSFA) 2026-27 FSAG fact sheet and its 2024-25 annual report.
How much FSAG pays
The Legislature sets the range each year in the state budget. For 2025-26, it's $200 minimum and $3,260 maximum. Within that range, your college sets your award based on your need and the money it's been allocated. FSAG plus your other aid can't exceed your financial need, which OSFA defines as:
cost of attendance − Student Aid Index (from the FAFSA) − other grants and scholarships (not loans)
| Year | Students | Total paid | Average award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | 167,209 | $266.2 million | $1,592 |
| 2021-22 | 162,526 | $267.3 million | $1,645 |
| 2022-23 | 165,596 | $269.3 million | $1,626 |
| 2023-24 | 160,024 | $269.3 million | $1,683 |
| 2024-25 | 155,293 | $268.1 million | $1,726 |
Source: OSFA Student Financial Assistance Annual Report 2024-25. Averages are total paid divided by students.
The state appropriation has stayed at $269,396,012 every year from 2020-21 through 2025-26, and the maximum award at $3,260. With fewer students funded, the average award has risen, from $1,592 to $1,726.
The four versions
FSAG is four grants, by type of school:
- FSAG Public: state universities and Florida College System (community) colleges. At least 6 credit hours a term.
- FSAG Private: eligible private, nonprofit four-year colleges. At least 12 credit hours a term.
- FSAG Postsecondary: other eligible degree-granting private colleges and FAA-certified aviation maintenance schools. At least 12 credit hours a term (or 360 clock hours for aviation maintenance).
- FSAG Career Education: certificate programs at Florida College System colleges and district technical centers.
In 2024-25, 133,240 of the 155,293 recipients were at public colleges.
How to get it: the FAFSA, by your college's date
OSFA's fact sheet says a student shows need by completing the FAFSA "in time to be processed error-free by the deadline specified by the institution." It also says each participating college "determines application procedures, deadlines, student eligibility, and award amount."
That means:
- There's no statewide FSAG deadline. Check your college's financial aid priority date, which is often months before Bright Futures' August 31 deadline.
- "Error-free" matters. A FAFSA that's been filed but is held up for corrections by the deadline may not count.
- Each college works from a fixed allocation. Filing after your college's date can mean the money is already committed.
You must also be a Florida resident and U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen, not owe a repayment or be in default on a state or federal grant or loan, and not already have a bachelor's degree.
Talented Twenty students get priority. OSFA says students in Florida's Talented Twenty program -- the top 20% of their public high school class -- receive priority FSAG funding, and should contact their college's financial aid office.
Keeping it
To renew, you need a 2.0 cumulative GPA at your college and the credit hours for each term you received FSAG:
- Public colleges: 12 credits a term if full-time, 9 if three-quarter-time, 6 if half-time.
- Private and postsecondary: 12 credits a term.
You also need a new, error-free FAFSA each year by your college's deadline.
If your GPA falls short, your college may give you a probationary award for two semesters. If you miss the credit hours, you can't receive FSAG the next year, but you can apply to your college for restoration later once you have a 2.0 GPA.
What this means for you
- File the FAFSA as soon as you can, and by your college's priority date. Each school awards FSAG from a fixed allocation, so filing late is a real risk.
- File both the FAFSA and the FFAA. FSAG and Bright Futures use different applications, and you can receive both. See Florida's state aid deadlines.
- At a private college, plan for full-time enrollment. FSAG Private requires 12 credits a term both to receive and to renew it.