Drawing Procedures

To be placed in the pool of names for the HEO program for the next academic year, each of the following conditions must be met:

Drawing Eligibility

Exclusions
    • This benefit is not currently available to in-unit faculty. “In-unit” is defined as faculty participating in UFF.  Bargaining unit contracts are under negotiation for future participation in this scholarship benefit.
    • The HEO is not available to OPS positions, or part-time (less than 1.0 FTE) staff or faculty employees.
Parents

Must be full-time (1.0 FTE) staff or out-of-unit faculty employed at the University of Florida.

    • Staff: Full time (1.0 FTE) TEAMS employee, or LEON, LEOE (UPD police officers, sergeants and lieutenants). 
    • Out-of-unit Faculty: (1.0 FTE) full faculty employee, FA09, FA10, FA12, or FACM.
Waiting period

There is no waiting period to qualify. Eligible staff and faculty employees are eligible to participate in the next available drawing as of their first day of employment.

Children

Must meet the following conditions:

    • The child must be the natural, adopted, step, foster, or any other child for which legal guardianship can be documented, of a full-time (staff or faculty) employee.
    • The child must be under 26 to be entered into the drawing. The child will continue to be eligible for the program (if selected) through the end of the calendar year in which the child turns 26 years of age.
    • The child must graduate high school before the (Fall semester) 2026 academic year begins.
Eligible Children

Meeting the criteria below may be submitted for HEO drawing consideration.

    • A child who is attending UF.
    • A child who will be an incoming college freshman.
    • A child who would like to transfer to UF.
    • A child who would like to attend a public state of Florida public college if they are not accepted to UF after applying for admission.
HEO-eligible Institutions
    • UF and public state of Florida public colleges.
    • The HEO does not cover private institutions, out-of-state institutions, or other Florida universities (i.e., UCF, UNF, FSU, etc.).

HEO Drawing Deadlines

Both the parent and child must meet the deadlines below to participate in the 2026 HEO Drawing.

Parent’s deadline: Expires 1159PM, November 3, 2025.

    • Parents must submit the online HEO Drawing application (near the bottom of this page) before the deadline expires, to enter their child into the 2026 HEO Drawing.

Child’s deadline: Expires 1159 PM, January 15, 2026.

    • Must apply for admission to the University of Florida, Office of Admissions by the “regular decision” Freshman deadline, regardless of academic status.
    • If the child is already an active UF student/attending UF, they do not need to re-apply to UF to meet this HEO drawing requirement.

Please contact heo@admin.ufl.edu if you or your child needs assistance with meeting HEO Drawing deadlines. 

Parent – HEO Drawing Application Requirement  

The eligible (staff or faculty) employee must notify Training and Development in the Office of Human Resources that they wish to enter their child into the HEO drawing for the coming academic year by submitting the online HEO Application Form (near the bottom of this page) by the established deadline, 1159 PM, November 3, 2025.

    • Each eligible full-time (staff or faculty) employee may submit one eligible child’s name per year for entrance into the HEO drawing.
    • More than one eligible employee may enter the same eligible child’s name for consideration in this drawing, provided that the eligible child meets the eligibility criteria for each full-time (staff or faculty) employee.
    • If the eligible employee has a child currently participating in the HEO program, the child should not be reentered unless the parent has lost employment eligibility to participate in the HEO.
    • Each eligible employee may enter a different eligible child’s name in subsequent years, provided that the subsequent eligible child meets the eligibility criteria.

Child – UF Admissions Application Requirement 

If the child is already an active UF student/attending UF, they do not need to re-apply to UF to meet this HEO drawing requirement.

The following (children) students are required to apply with UF Office of Admissions by January 15, 2026, to be entered into the HEO drawing:

    • Transfer students
    • Students who have entered their high school senior year
    • Students applying as freshman
    • Students who are currently attending OR desire to attend another (HEO eligible) Florida public college institution

UF Admissions eligibility (for HEO drawing purposes) is based upon the number of college credits completed after high school graduation. Based on this guideline, the following students are eligible to apply for admission to UF (and therefore required to do so for the HEO benefit):

    • Students with 11 semester hours or less (earned following high school graduation)
    • Students with 60 semester hours or more (earned following high school graduation)
    • Note: This is a guideline and should not be solely used to determine if the child should submit the UF Admissions application for drawing purposes.

All UF admissions-related inquires (including confirmation of the status of your child’s UF Admissions application, or your child’s eligibility to submit the UF Admissions application) should be directed to and confirmed by UF Office of Admissions.

    • HEO Drawing applications will be disqualified if the child does not complete the UF Admissions application by January 15, 2026.
    • The child applying to UF Admissions is an HEO Drawing participation requirement. Regardless of where the child is currently attending or where the child wants to attend, the child must apply for admission to the University of Florida for HEO drawing purposes, by the UF Admissions deadline, January 15, 2026, to be considered for drawing participation.
    • If the child is not admitted to UF, only then will the child have the option of attending a state of Florida college instead.
    • The HEO does not cover private institutions, out-of-state institutions, or other Florida universities (i.e., UCF, UNF, FSU, etc.).

Waiving the UF Admissions – HEO Drawing Requirement 

If the child is already an active UF student/attending UF, they do not need to re-apply to UF to meet this HEO drawing requirement.

    • To waive the HEO Drawing’s UF Admissions application requirement, the (child) student must be confirmed by the UF Office of Admissions as “ineligible to submit” the UF Admissions application by January 15, 2026, based upon the number of college credits earned after high school graduation. See HEO Policy for more detail.
    • Students confirmed by the UF Office of Admissions as “ineligible to submit” the UF Admissions application by January 15, 2026, based upon the number of college credits earned after high school graduation), must provide the following documentation to the UFHR office (upon request) to be included in the HEO drawing:
          1. Documentation from UF Office of Admissions confirming the child was not eligible to submit the UF Admissions application by January 15, 2026, based upon the number of college credits earned after high school graduation.
          2. Or, transcripts showing all college credit hours earned after high school graduation, confirmed by UF Admissions, the child’s ineligibility to submit the UF Admissions application by January 15, 2026.

Drawing Selection and Acceptance Process

Each March, UFHR begins the vetting process for the submitted drawing applications, including but not limited to, verifying eligible (staff and faculty) employee applications were submitted by the HEO deadline, confirming with the UF’s Director of Admissions, children eligible to submit UF Admissions applications met the January 15, deadline, and qualifying child and parent dependency verification. 

In the spring, a public drawing coordinated by Training and Development in the Office of Human Resources will be held to select 150 names from the pool of eligible staff HEO applicants, and 100 names from the pool of eligible faculty HEO applicants. All eligible HEO applicants will be given appropriate notice of the date, time, and location of the drawing.

Drawing Pools

Up to 150 eligible staff applications will be selected and up to 100 eligible faculty applications will be selected.

The drawing pools for staff and faculty are separate. The drawing pools will not be combined to satisfy the maximum number of selected drawing applicants from either pool.

For staff applicants:

    • In the event greater than 150 staff applicants are confirmed eligible, to ensure fairness, the 150 names will be selected at a public drawing to take place each spring.
    • If 150 or fewer eligible staff applicants are confirmed, all eligible applicants will be awarded and no drawing will be held. 

For faculty applicants:

    • In the event greater than 100 faculty applicants are confirmed eligible, to ensure fairness, the 100 names will be selected at a public drawing to take place each spring.
    • If 100 or fewer eligible faculty applicants are confirmed, all eligible applicants will be awarded and no drawing will be held. 

Parents of the children selected for the HEO scholarship will be notified by the UFHR HEO Coordinator after the drawing selection has concluded.

    • The children selected from the drawing pools, who meet admissions requirements to the University of Florida, will be offered admission to the University, conditional upon receipt of their high school diploma before the date of entry into the University offered by the Director of Admissions.
    • Please note that the University of Florida reserves the right to make changes based on administrative errors.
    • If selected for the HEO and offered admission to the University of Florida, the child must attend the University of Florida during the first fall semester of their HEO award year to receive the HEO scholarship. After meeting this requirement, the child may elect to attend any HEO eligible institution at any point during their HEO participation.
    • Those children selected from the drawing pools who do not meet admissions requirements to the University of Florida and receive their high school diploma before the beginning of the academic year must enroll at a Florida public college (i.e., SF College or equivalent) during the first fall semester of their HEO award year to receive the HEO scholarship.
    • Children not admitted to the University of Florida may attend any HEO eligible institution during their HEO participation.

The HEO benefit will be activated by the following:

    • Receipt of a completed online HEO Acceptance form, submitted by the eligible parent.
    • Receipt of a completed online HEO Status Verification form, submitted by the student and enrollment by the HEO student at the institution indicated on the HEO Status Verification form.
    • Enrollment must occur for the fall semester of the first academic year of the student’s eligibility. If the student does not take courses that fall semester, the student will lose the HEO benefit.

Continued Eligibility

To maintain eligibility in the program each semester:

    • The student’s parent or legal guardian must be a full-time eligible staff or faculty employee on the first day of classes each semester
    • The student must be no older than 26 years of age. 
    • The student’s cumulative GPA (for all college work attempted) must be 2.75 or higher.

See the HEO Policy page for more detail about continued eligibility requirements, requesting funding, HEO FERPA Release, and GPA Performance Reporting requirements.

Non-Transferable

The HEO scholarship is not transferable. Once a drawing applicant is selected, their scholarship cannot be transferred to another applicant, who was not selected. If a selected applicant later decides not to accept the HEO scholarship for their child, the scholarship will be withdrawn and closed.

 HEO Contact Information
Program Coordinator heo@admin.ufl.edu or 352-273-0149
 
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