Best Major Universities for Merit Scholarships–Part Two

Note: This post has now been updated on October 7, 2019, to include the most recent data from the 130 public and private universities listed below. Merit scholarships are fewer than ever, and the awards are generally smaller, though some are still generous. In fact, an increasing number of colleges are offering only minimal National Merit Scholarships, if any. Most “merit” scholarships that remain are not linked specifically to National Merit, although finalists do of course make strong candidates for almost any merit awards.

Most universities now refer to their most valuable merit awards as “distinguished” or “academic” or “presidential” scholarships, avoiding the specific mention of National Merit status. NMS has become somewhat controversial, as has merit aid in general, because many advocates for more equity in higher ed believe merit money should be allocated for need-based aid.

In most cases this does not mean that National Merit Finalists and Semifinalists have a lesser shot at the scholarships, although a few schools now emphasize high test scores more than they do NMS standing. One reason could be that some states have relatively low NMS/PSAT cutoff scores. Students from these states might have, for example, an SAT confirming score of 1420 or so, versus an SAT confirming score of around 1550 for students from states with higher PSAT cutoff scores. It appears that in place of NMS status specifically, an SAT score of 1550 (ACT 35) or higher is now more important that NMS status for selective institutions and programs.

Many of the scholarships offered by the public and private institutions listed below are NOT restricted to National Merit Scholars. We include them to show “full ride” and other high-value options. If you find an error below, please notify editor@publicuniversityhonors.com.

The colleges below in bold are those that still specify National Merit status for at least some of their major awards. These offer National Merit aid of $1,000 a year or more. Although automatic scholarships specifically tied to National Merit status are in decline, National Merit Finalists will almost always be among the top candidates for merit awards.

Many elite colleges and universities offer few or no merit awards of any kind now, because they believe that they need to allocate their funds only on the basis of financial need.

Another post on this site lists the colleges that offer the prestigious Stamps Scholarships.

These range from tuition to full ride, and in some cases, these are the only merit scholarships offered by the college.

And here is a list published by U.S. News that shows colleges with highest percentage of merit aid, based on enrollment. This map does not assess actual net remaining costs after merit aid, however.

In this post, we will provide a table that shows 130 universities, public and private, which provide full or partial tuition, tuition “plus”, or full ride, and full ride merit scholarships. In most cases, the tuition is at least at the in-state level. Tuition “plus” means that the extra award can include stipends or one or more years of housing. Full ride is tuition, room, board, and often additional funds for study abroad, conferences, and other activities.

The more prestigious the university, the more likely it is that the test score and GPA requirements will at least match stats for National Merit Finalists, even if the scholarship is not tied directly to National Merit awards. It is noteworthy that universities previously known for “full rides” have lowered the merit offerings, often to a level below that of a true full ride, especially for National Merit Scholars.

Note: Merit scholarships are constantly changing; the list below is at best a snapshot for 2019-2020.

It is important to know that some of the universities listed offer VERY FEW scholarships of the type listed. For example, the Jefferson Scholarships at the University of Virginia are valued at $150,000 (in-state) and $280,000 (OOS), but only 36 extremely fortunate students are selected from more than 2,000 candidates. These students must be nominated by participating high schools in different regions of the nation.

Again, colleges that continue to offer National Merit-specific scholarships that are greater than $1,000 per year are in bold.

University Award Type InState/OOS
Alabama full ride 5 yrs, 4 yrs housing+stipend, finalist Both
Appalachian St Chancellors schols Both
Arizona tuition plus, stackable Both
Arizona State tuition plus, stackable Both
Arkansas equiv full? New Arkansan+Chancellor’s Both
Auburn up to full tuition with high test scores, gpa Both
Baylor NMS finalist, faculty schol full tuition; gold schols $80k+ Both
Boston College tuition Presidential Schols only 15/yr Both
Boston University tuition Trustee Schols 20 per yr Both
Case Western Wolf scholars, full ride; Squire, Treuhaft tuition Both
Centre full ride plus, Brown Fellows; several at $20k+ Both
Chicago $5k to $10k/yr Both
Cincinnati full ride Cincinnatus; Presidential NMS $44k In State
Clark full ride, five LEEP/yr; others up to $20k/yr Both
Clemson full ride 12 National Schols, via honors college Both
Colorado College limited number $2500 to $5000/ semester Both
Connecticut Stamps full ride very few; nutmeg full tuition? In State
Cooper Union half tuition ($22,275/yr) for all enrolled Both
Davidson full ride Belk Scholarship Both
Delaware trustee scholars, $15k–$17k per year Both
Denison from $5k to full tuition Both
Drake full ride, six national alumni scholarships Both
Drexel up to tuition, Drexel Merit Both
Duke several full ride: BN & AB Duke, Robertson, etc. Both
Emory Woodruff schols full ride, others partial Both
Florida full ride Benacquisto Both
Florida St full ride Benacquisto Both
Fordham presidential full ride plus $5k/yr Both
Furman James Duke schol, tuition plus $5k in stipends Both
Georgia Foundation fellows, full, no engineering Both
Georgia State Presidential 22k/yr in st; 31k/yr OOS Both
Georgia Tech Stamps full ride top 1% Gtech; no NMS spons Both
Harvey Mudd tuition 8 presidential schols Both
Holy Cross a few tuition grants for specific majors Both
Houston NM finalist full tuition; stackable Tier One, Terry Both
Idaho full ride Both
Illinois Stamps full ride + $12k very few In State
Indiana $2k/yr plus Dean’s up to $11k/yr? Both
Iowa NM finalist $3k/yr plus others up to $8500/yr Both
Iowa State full tuition In State
Kansas $10k year; KU Excellence $16.2k/yr OOS In State
Kent St $1k to $3k Both
Kentucky Singletary, Patterson tuition + housing stipend, might be stackable with others Both
Kenyon multiple half and full tuition; others at $25k/yr Both
Lehigh NMF $1k-$2k; Founders, Trustee full/half tuition Both
Louisville NMF $20k; Brown scholars (10)  tuition plus Both?
Loyala Chicago $17k to $25k/yr Both
LSU Stamps 10/yr full ride plus; also others $9k/yr Both
Maine NM semifinalist tuition plus Both
Maryland full ride Banneker/Key 150 per year Both
Massachusetts tuition credits plus, Chancellor’s, Dean’s etc. Mostly OOS
Miami Univ NMS $1-2k; others half/full tuition acc to sat/act Both
Michigan St “Distinguished” schols award then tuition and/or full ride Both
Michigan up to $20k per year; a few Stamps, full ride Both
Michigan Tech Leading Scholar award, in-state full ride, OOS tuition Both
Minnesota Gold Scholarships 10k year + $1k NM finalist Both
Minnesota Morris NM finalists, full tuition; plus others up to $4k/yr Both
Mississippi appears to approach full ride Both
Mississippi St full ride presidential SAT 1450+ or maybe lower Both
Nebraska tuition Regents ACT 32+ Both
Nevada Las Vegas NM finalist $10k/yr plus $5k study abroad Both
Nevada Reno NM finalist $16k/yr plus others stackable Both
New Hampshire $5k-$10k Both
New Mexico NM finalist In state tuition & housing, OOS $36k Both
New Mexico St tuition & fees + $5k stipend + one yr housing Both
NJIT tuition plus, must be in honors college Both
North Carolina full ride few Robertson Scholars Both
NC Charlotte Levine full ride, 20 per year Both
North Carolina St full ride Park Scholars mostly in state or region In Region
Northeastern NM finalists =”competitive” award, $25-$30k??? Both
Notre Dame Stamps full ride; a few others at $25k/yr Both
Ohio St 54k to full ride (for Eminence Fellows) 25/yr Both
Ohio Univ Cutler scholarship = $92k across 4 years Both
Oklahoma St NM finalists full ride OOS $145k Both
Oklahoma 1560 SAT =full ride; NM finalist only= 80% total cost in state, but stackable options too Both
Oregon NM finalist $2k/yr; Stamps full ride, 10; presidential = $9k yr Both
Oregon St $40k total presidential scholarship Both
Pitt full ride Chancellor’s Scholarship, 10-12 yr Both
Purdue Beering and Stamps full ride+, few; trustees $10k or $12-$16k OOS Both
Rhodes several from $22k to $35k Both
Rice tuition for income $65-$130; half tuition for income < $200k Both
Richmond up to $2k NM only; 5k to full ride for Richmond Scholars Both
RIT $2k plus $20k per year nms finalists Both
Rose-Hulman Class of 1940 schol half of total cost Both
Rochester 2k to full tuition Dean’s Scholarships Both
RPI Rensselaer medal $25k/yr math & science Both
Rutgers $1k NM only; $3500 to $28k other awards Both
Santa Clara Johnson schols (5) full ride; presidential full tuition Both
SMU NMF only $5k; full tuition and fees presidential Both
South Carolina Top Scholars (40) $127k to $176k OOS), avg SAT 1552 Both
Southern Illinois full ride Chancellor’s Both
Southern Miss NMF full ride; NMSF tuition Both
Stevens Inst Tech tuition Neupauer, Stevens Both
St. Louis Univ NMF only $2k; tuition Presidential; others $8-$23k Both
Swarthmore McCabe Schols tuition minimum; up to full cost dep on need Both
Syracuse 1870 schol =tuition; Coronat tuition plus lib arts Both
TCU NMF $2k/yr; tuition Chancellors 1500/34 tests Both
Temple $3k to full tuition for President’s scholars Both
Texas A&M $33k minimum total; also Brown Schols full ride Both
Texas St 10 k/year NMF Both
Texas Tech NM finalist full ride Both
Trinity San Antonio tuition, 20 awarded, Trinity Tower; also Murchision $26k/yr Both
Truman St full ride 12 Pershing Scholarships + $4k Both
Tulane tuition plus, Dean’s Honor, Paul Tulane, 5 Stamps full ride Both
Tulsa tuition Presidential, about 65 per year Both
UCF full ride Benacquisto Both
USF full ride Benacquisto Both
UCLA Regents Scholars $2k/year; 150 for all UC Campuses Both
UC Berkeley Regents Scholars $2k/year; 150 for all UC Campuses In State
Univ at Buffalo $15k/year for Presidential plus others possible Both
Univ of Miami $6-$30k annually President’s scholarship Both
Univ of North Texas full ride 122k in state; 173k OOS Both
USC tuition Mork, Stamps, Trustee; NMF half tuition Both
UT Arlington NM finalist 25k per year Both
UT Austin  14-15 full, 40 Acres Schols; full tuition fam income< $65k, tuition break fam income< $125k Mostly TX
UT Dallas full ride McDermott plus stipends and perks Both
UT San Antonio $5k year Distinguished Presidential Schol Both
Utah tuition and fees Presidential Scholars Mostly UT
Va Commonwealth NMF & others Presidential schol $114k, avg SAT 1484 In State
Vanderbilt tuition plus, Ingram, Vanderbilt, Chancellor’s Both
Vermont Presidential $17 to $20k OOS; in state $5k/yr Both
Villanova full ride presidential Both
Virginia Jefferson scholars= $150k in state; $280k OOS Both
Wake Forest full ride Carswell, Gordon, Graylyn, etc. Both
Washington St NM semifinalists tuition plus Both
West Virginia Full ride in for Foundation Scholars (5); Bucklew scholars $10k/year Both
William and Mary full ride for “1693” Scholars; tuition Wm Mary sch Both
Wofford full ride Richardson Both
WPI $20k minimum Presidential Both
WUSTL tuition or half tuition Danforth, Earvin, Rodriguez Both