--- ---  # Laughing Chewbacca Mom's Family Receives Full Ride to Florida University  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 2, 2016 12:10 PM UTC  Candace Payne, the "Chewbacca Mom" is a guest on Good Morning America on May 23, 2016 Candace Payne, the "Chewbacca Mom" is a guest on Good Morning America on May 23, 2016Lou Rocco—ABC via Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 2, 2016 12:10 PM UTC A Florida university has [offered full scholarships](https://www.seu.edu/2016/05/31/seu-awards-full-tuition-scholarships-to-chewbacca-mom/) to the family of the mother who uploaded the video of herself laughing in a [Chewbacca mask](http://time.com/4343234/chewbacca-mask-woman/?iid=sr-link1) to the joy of the internet. Candace Payne, as well as her husband and two children, can all attend Southeastern University for free, the university [announced](https://www.seu.edu/2016/05/31/seu-awards-full-tuition-scholarships-to-chewbacca-mom/). “Candace has inspired us and others with her joy,” said Kent Ingle, the school’s president, in a press release. “We want her and her family to experience some of that same joy through this gift.” The announcement is the latest in a string of attention Payne has gotten since uploading the viral video last month. She made the rounds on talk shows and rode in a car with J.J. Abrams and James Corden. Chewbacca Mom Gets Full Ride to Florida University ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4354823/chewbacca-mom-florida-scholarship/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4354823/chewbacca-mom-florida-scholarship/"},"headline":"Laughing Chewbacca Mom's Family Receives Full Ride to Florida University","datePublished":"2016-06-02T12:10:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:55.070Z","description":"It's the latest in a string of good news for the Texas mom","url":"https://time.com/4354823/chewbacca-mom-florida-scholarship/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd4578de3f9bbed47/698895eeab6d7716ed6a9ee3/chewbacca-mom-scholarship.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd4578de3f9bbed47/698895eeab6d7716ed6a9ee3/chewbacca-mom-scholarship.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chewbacca Mom scholarship","caption":"Chewbacca Mom scholarship","creditText":"Lou Rocco—ABC via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4354823/chewbacca-mom-florida-scholarship/","name":"Laughing Chewbacca Mom's Family Receives Full Ride to Florida University"}}]}] ```