The Jose Marti Scholarship Challenge Grant Fund is a need-based merit scholarship that provides financial assistance to eligible students of Hispanic origin who will attend Florida public or eligible private institutions. Applicants must be of Spanish culture, born in or having a natural parent who was born in either Mexico or a Hispanic country of the Caribbean, Central or South America, regardless of race. Students from Brazil, Spain, and Haiti are not considered for an evaluation of this scholarship. Applicants must have earned, by the end of the seventh semester, a minimum unweighted cumulative GPA of 3.0 based on subjects credible toward a high school diploma for an undergraduate scholarship, or a 3.0 institutional cumulative GPA for undergraduate college work if applying for a graduate level scholarship. Applicants must not have previously earned a baccalaureate degree and enroll as a degree-seeking student at an eligible postsecondary institution and enroll each academic term for a minimum of 12 credit hours for undergraduate study or 9 credit hours for graduate study. Applicants will be ranked by their application submission date, if necessary. A prospective undergraduate student must apply during senior year of high school. Graduate students may apply; however, priority for the scholarship is given to graduating high school seniors. First priority shall be given to eligible renewal applicants. Second priority for awards will be given to initial applicants. Third priority for awards will be given to reinstatement applicants. Fourth priority for awards will be given to restoration applicants. Fifth priority for awards will be given to initial graduate applicants. An undergraduate student is eligible to receive an award for a maximum of eight semesters (12 quarters) over a period of no more than six consecutive years, or until receipt of a baccalaureate degree, whichever occurs first. An undergraduate student enrolled in a five-year undergraduate degree program is eligible to receive financial aid for a maximum of 10 semesters or 15 quarters. An eligible graduate student may receive a maximum of four semesters or six quarters of funding. Please visit the scholarship's website or contact the Florida State Department of Education for more information.