' Progressive Opportunities: Empowering Communities

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Opens August 2024

The Golden Scholars program is an admissions pathway for select first-generation and Financial Aid Recipients. Students selected to be Golden Scholars will participate in an intensive six-week residential summer bridge program that offers academic preparation, individualized advising, and personal attention from faculty, staff, and peers. Students in the program will have the opportunity to sharpen their academic skills and develop a support network of students, faculty, and staff by becoming familiar with the FIU community and its many resources.

To qualify as a candidate for the Golden Scholars bridge program, applicants must be:

• Pell Grant and first-generation college students
• Florida residents (per state residency guidelines)
• Have a minimum 3.0 high school GPA
• Have a minimum 18 ACT composite score or 960 SAT composite score
• NOTE: Satisfying these requirements does not guarantee admission into the program.

To apply to the Golden Scholars bridge program, students must:

• Submit a complete FIU Undergraduate Admission application and the Golden Scholars bridge program application.
• Submit official ACT and/or SAT scores to the Office of Admissions.
• Complete both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 FAFSA.
  • NOTE: Both FAFSA applications are now available through the FAFSA website. Students are encouraged to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool on the FAFSA website.
• Complete the Florida Residency Affidavit Form with required documentation. Please be prepared to upload residency documents when submitting your online admissions application.

The CARE Summer Bridge Program (SBP) provides a comprehensive program designed to ease the transition from high school to college while building a strong academic foundation. Applicants selected to participate in SBP will be first-generation college students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds who have demonstrated a strong desire to succeed. The CARE Summer Bridge Program is open to Florida residents who are either U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States.

• Must be a first-generation college student.
• Demonstrate strong evidence of possessing FSU's core values of Vires (strength), Artes (skill) and Mores (character).
• Complete all the minimum academic courses as required by the state of Florida.
• Qualify for the Pell Grant as determined by the FAFSA and supporting financial documentation for both aid years.
• Meet Florida residency requirements.