A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the University of Florida has to admit new students to the state’s $10 billion scholarship program.
The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was in response to a lawsuit filed by the state, which has long sought to limit the number of applicants to the program.
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Department of Education officials say the scholarship program, which allows the poorest students to receive up to $25,000 in federal aid to cover tuition and fees, is the largest in the country and helps more than 2 million students each year.
The court ruled in May that the state should not be required to offer additional students to get the same amount of money as the state.
The university, which in 2017 received a $10.6 billion gift from the Trump administration, appealed to the 9 of the 10 U.N. appeals courts that have upheld the state scholarship program in the past.
The appeals courts are split 5-4.
“I’m very pleased that the 9 U. S. Circuit Justices agreed to hear this case,” said university spokeswoman Emily Eason.
In May, the state and UF agreed to increase the number from 500,000 students in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2020 and 2.5 million in 2021. “
We hope to appeal this decision to the full 9 U, and we look forward to getting it resolved soon.”
In May, the state and UF agreed to increase the number from 500,000 students in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2020 and 2.5 million in 2021.
But that increase fell short of what Florida students were able to get.
Under the new scholarship, the maximum number of students eligible for financial aid is expected to jump from 500 to 1,000.
It is unclear how many of those students would be eligible for federal aid.UF has said the program would be more successful if more students were accepted from outside the state of Florida.