Merit scholarships are a type of gift aid that help pay for college by rewarding talent. Most merit based scholarships go to students who stand out with strong academics.
Recipients of a merit scholarship may be high academic achievers or have strong athletic, artistic or other skills and values. Eligible students must also show a desire to serve the community or leadership skills.
Some merit scholarships also may look at financial need. But most of the time accomplishments and academic excellence are the primary factors to win a merit scholarship.
How Do You Get a Merit Scholarship?
Merit awards are different from needs based scholarships. A need-based scholarship uses family income to make decisions. Instead, the merit scholarship sponsors usually start out with a goal or reason why they offer it. This might be to develop their industry with smart minds or invest in the future of their community and college.
There are various criteria to qualify for a merit scholarship. Sometimes you need to be a member of a specific association or enrolled in the university. Other scholarship providers may specifically offer it to minority students, female students or for certain majors like STEM.
Either way, you’ll need to see if you qualify. One example is the Women Techmakers Scholarship. It is an academic merit scholarship. In order to be eligible, eligible students must show strong academic performance, leadership, and impact on the community of women in tech. You may fit the bill as an upstanding male student, but this one is for girls.
What is Merit?
That stated, what ‘merit’ means generally depends on the organization granting the scholarship. Some merit scholarships look at academic performance, test scores, and your recommendations. Others may only look at your SAT/ACT test scores.
Still others focus on your dedication to and performance in a specific field of study. This can be anything from music to math and others.
Many private companies, groups and nonprofits fund merit scholarships. There are no federal funds for merit-based scholarships.
Some merit scholarship providers are from local communities such as churches and cultural groups. Companies such as Google, Gates Foundation or Coca Cola also offer merit scholarships.
Most colleges also award merit scholarships. Often alumni endow funds to use for these awards. Merit based awards may thus carry the name of a person so that their legacy continues. You’ll also find charitable foundations offering merit aid which sometimes look at financial need.
What GPA do You Need to Get a Merit Scholarship?
An academic merit scholarship often requires a strong GPA. But the actual grade point average you need to get a merit scholarship varies.
For instance, you need a cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale to qualify for the SHRM Foundation’s Graduate Scholarships. This awards $5,000 to a graduate student pursuing an HR degree related program.
The Voice of Democracy Scholarship awards $30,000 to one national first place winner. Most high school students as well as military students may apply.
How Much is a Merit Scholarship?
The U.S. Department of Education tracks the aid schools award to undergraduates. According to the NCES study, they looked at the amount of money high-merit students received. It found that those in selective schools got about 58% of their tuition. Those in less selective schools received about 46% of their tuition amounts.
What Qualifies You to be a National Merit Scholar?
National Merit Scholars have the highest PSAT/NMSQT® Selection Index scores. About 1.6 million enter to compete. But about 50,000 qualify for recognition in the National Merit® Scholarship Program.
Each September, the sponsor colleges notify the recipients. They let them know if they have qualified as either a Commended Student or Semifinalist. Then about 15,000 semifinalists move to finalist standing.
About 7,600 winners of Merit Scholarship® awards (Merit Scholar® designees) may be notified. Part of the decision making process looks at students’ abilities, skills, and accomplishments.
How Do You Get the Most Money for Merit Scholarships?
Many scholarship providers factor in both need and merit. There are at least six things that may help you get the most merit aid for college.
Don’t forget to fill out the FAFSA. Depending on your circumstances, you may be eligible for federal aid too. This might be useful if the amount of your merit scholarship is not enough to pay tuition, fees, housing etc.
Apply to schools where your grades put you ahead. Many college admissions look at the entire pool of applicants. You may be ahead of the student body in some colleges and not in others.
Check whether the merit scholarship is renewable. If so, abiding by the terms may help pay your entire four years at college.
Make sure you understand the net cost of attending each school you apply to. Then assess the amount of merit aid you can get and see what makes the most sense to you.
Figure out where your talents lie and use them when you search for scholarships. It doesn’t have to be high marks. The Doodle for Google Scholarship rewards creativity.
When applying to a college or university, look at their financial aid section and scan for merit scholarships to see if you qualify.
As an estate planning attorney and a father, I’ve seen the financial impact on families with the soaring costs of college. This annual scholarship is to help aid one winner that shows merit, grit, financial need, and good academic standing.
SCTPN Undergraduate Scholarships are dedicated to academic excellence and assisting young adults living with a hemoglobinopathy to continue their education. The scholarship is awarded biannually to students accepted to an accredited two or four-year college or university. Scholarship recipients can apply annually for continued assistance. SCTPN will follow undergraduate recipients throughout their college experience, provide needed support and mentoring activities. For more information or to apply, please visit the scholarship provider’s website
This fellowship was created in 1988 by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation and Richard L. Menschel (MBA 1959) to encourage students from the nonprofit sector to pursue an MBA at HBS. Mr. Menschel, a former director of the Foundation and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs, was an early supporter of the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative and served on its Advisory Board.
Davis UWC Scholars are exceptional young people who have graduated from a UWC school and then matriculated at selected U.S. colleges or universities. The UWC experience—which brings students from around the world to live and learn together in one of 18 locations on five continents—has challenged them academically and personally, expanded their horizons exponentially, and shown them how to build understanding from diversity.
Davis UWC Scholars arrive at American colleges and universities with outstanding academic abilities, as well as a proven capacity to build relationships with people from a variety of backgrounds. We believe that fostering personal relationships between students who are different from one another will build an effective network of future leaders committed to mutual respect.
A private education in a bold environment shouldn’t be as expensive as it sounds. That’s why DePaul has introduced the State Scholar Plus scholarship for admitted fall freshmen. With merit award packages up to $100,000 (over four years) we are as affordable as the leading public institution in Illinois.
Through the Burger King? Scholars Program, we have awarded nearly $60 million to over 45,000 students across North America since 2000. Our goal is to grant one scholarship for every BK restaurant in North America –that translates to more than $7 million each year!
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Created in memory of Burger King Co-Founder James “Jim” W. McLamore, the Burger King? Scholars program provides scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $60,000 to high school students and BK employees and their families. Scholarships are intended to offset the cost of attending college or post-secondary vocational/technical school. Recipients are selected through an application process that takes into consideration their grade point average (GPA), work experience, extracurricular activities, and community service. In 2022 alone, the Foundation awarded over $4.6 million in scholarships to nearly 4,000 students.
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The Blakemore Foundation was established in 1990 by Thomas and Frances Blakemore to encourage the advanced study of Asian languages and to improve the understanding of Asian fine arts in the United States. The Blakemore Foundation offers fellowships to fund a year of advanced language abroad to college graduates using East or Southeast Asian language in their careers.
The Blakemore Freeman Fellowships are awarded for one year of advanced level language study in East or Southeast Asia in approved language programs.
The Quad Fellowship was established in September 2021 by Australia, India, Japan and the United States to strengthen ties among the next generation of scientists and technologists. The Fellowship will sponsor 100 American, Japanese, Australian, and Indian master’s and doctoral students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to study in the United States. Schmidt Futures will administer the fellowship with the help of a non-governmental task-force composed of academic, foreign policy and private sector leaders from each Quad country.
?”Welcome to Prep For Success! Kamil and I (Samantha) are entrepreneurs from New Jersey that have a passion for education. Thus, we created Prep For Success Tutor. For over ten years, Prep For Success has provided classes and one-on-one tutoring services in a wide array of subjects including standardized exams, college applications, general math, English, and more. Our impact has been continuously growing, and Prep For Success is proud to say that we have over one hundred 5 star reviews on thumbtack and google! One main feature that sets us apart from other tutoring companies is that Kamil and I (the founders of the company) are fully invested in the company and work as tutors as well. This allows us to not have a disconnected experience from what the students need and be fully invested in all the student’s successes. This also gives our company a small mom-and-pop feel! We welcome you to our company, and hope that you will join us in your education venture!”
The mission of the Clarkston Scholars program is to create equitable access and opportunities for low-income, first-generation college students with the intention of developing a future Clarkston steward. To be eligible, applicant must be a sophomore at one of Clarkston’s Core Schools (University of Michigan, Babson College, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State, Georgia Tech, Agnes Scott College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, University of Arizona or Arizona State University).
