Scholarships are a great way to finance your education. With a wide variety of funding opportunities available, you can explore options to best fit your needs.
Freshman Transfer Asia CampusWith plenty of scholarships available to new students, you can lighten your financial load and focus on what matters most. Find the funding you need to let the learning begin.
Incoming Freshman Admissions/Scholarship deadlines:
Interested in attending the University of Utah? Wondering how to pay? Find scholarship opportunities to fit your needs and ease the transition.
Transfer Admission/Scholarship Deadlines:
The University of Utah Asia Campus offers numerous scholarships to make your international education accessible and affordable, including the UAC Entrance Scholarship and the UAC New Horizon Scholarship.
The University of Utah offers merit-based and need-based scholarships to incoming freshman students entering in the summer or fall terms. Need-based scholarships require the timely completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The merit review process is highly competitive and considers cumulative, unweighted high school grade point average (GPA) and the level of rigor of the courses taken as compared to the rigorous courses available at each school.
The following information related to deadlines and processing applies to all merit scholarships, including the For Utah scholarship, administered by the University Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.
The information provided here is for new, incoming freshman students applying for the fall 2023 term. Please note that policies may change at the start of future admissions cycles.
The admissions application deadline for merit scholarship consideration is December 1 each year. By this date, students must have submitted the Common Application, paid the application fee/submitted an approved fee waiver, and requested that their school send official high school transcripts to the University of Utah. It can take a few days for transcripts to be received, processed, and matched with the application. If a transcript has not been received by December 7, the Office of Admissions will let applicants know so that they can request a new one be sent as soon as possible.
Because technical glitches can occur and processing times may be long, we encourage you to submit your application and all required documents before the December 1 deadline.
Homeschooled students, students who took the GED or HiSET exam to gain the equivalent of a high school diploma, and those who attend unaccredited high schools that would like to be considered for merit awards at the U are required to submit an official ACT or SAT score and are encouraged to do so before December 1 to ensure it arrives in time for consideration.
Students who are considered for the For Utah scholarship must meet the admissions application deadline of December 1 and the FAFSA priority date of February 1.
Please note: The Office of Admissions will share important information regarding the status of the application via email and in the Application Tracker. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that their application is complete and that all required materials have been received by the University of Utah.
What do I do if my high school transcript does not get submitted?Students who are planning to attend the U should begin the transcript request process no later than mid-November if possible. Transcripts must be sent directly from your high school, and each high school has its own process for how students can request official transcripts. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure they follow up with their high school counselor to confirm that the transcript was sent to the U.
It can take the University several days to receive, process, and match your transcript to your application. To confirm that the University has received your transcript, check your Application Tracker.
What is the GPA required to receive a merit scholarship?No cumulative high school GPA can guarantee you a University merit scholarship, but applicants who have a cumulative unweighted GPA of 3.7 or higher at the time of application are most competitive in our scholarship consideration process.
Students who are residents of the state of Utah, have a minimum cumulative high school GPA of 3.2, complete the FAFSA by February 1, are eligible for the Pell Grant, and meet the December 1 admissions application deadline will be finalists for the For Utah scholarship.
What courses are considered rigorous in the merit scholarship review process?Each high school offers different types of challenging courses (e.g., AP, IB, concurrent enrollment, etc.). Students are evaluated fairly within the context of the curriculum offered at their high school.
At high schools that offer AP, IB, or concurrent enrollment courses, courses with these designations are considered rigorous. If a school offers a combination of AP, IB, and concurrent enrollment curricula, the U does not prefer one type of designation over another.
At schools that do not offer AP, IB, or concurrent enrollment courses, the University will review the overall curriculum to understand which courses are designated the most rigorous.
How is rigor of curriculum determined?The rigor of your individual curriculum is based both on the types of rigorous courses offered at your high school and how many you have taken in relation to your peers. The Office of Admissions reviews documents such as the school profile along with data available through organizations like the College Board for context on the average number of rigorous courses taken at each high school, the maximum allowed, etc. Because curriculum rigor is very dependent on the opportunities a student has had at their school(s), the U does not use a particular formula in calculating rigor.
How do I make sure that I get a scholarship to the U?Because of the impressive academic record of applicants each year, we cannot guarantee that any individual student will be offered a President’s, Flagship, or Academic merit scholarship at the U.
Students who are residents of the state of Utah, have a minimum cumulative high school GPA of 3.2, complete the FAFSA by February 1, are eligible for the Pell Grant, and meet the December 1 admissions application deadline will be finalists for the For Utah scholarship.
Students whose high school designates a valedictorian/salutatorian and reports those designees to the U are eligible to receive The Guarantee.
I will be studying in the U.S. on a visa. Am I eligible for these merit scholarships?Because these scholarships are partially or completely funded by government dollars, international students studying on a visa are not eligible to receive a University merit scholarship. Individuals who hold a permanent resident card or have Refugee or Asylee status are eligible to be considered for merit scholarships.
What if I do not have a GPA (i.e., all my grades are on a Pass/Fail system or I attend a school that only issues narrative grades)?
In order to be considered for University merit scholarship, we require an official quantified (numeric) measure of your academic performance in each class. If your school does not calculate an official GPA but gives official letter/number grades, we will calculate a GPA for you. If your GPA is not on a 4.0 scale, we will convert it based on the appropriate conversion scale. Students who do not have official letter/number grades will not be reviewed for University merit scholarships.
How do in-state residency and citizenship status impact scholarship eligibility for some awards?If an applicant receives an unclear residency or citizenship request from the Office of Admissions, it is the student’s responsibility to follow up on the request within the stated time frame to ensure they are considered for all scholarships for which they may be eligible. More information about residency can be found here.
How is the college coursework I took while in high school factored into my GPA and rigor?If the college coursework you took was concurrent enrollment (i.e., the courses and grades are or will be listed on your high school transcript), the grades will be factored into your GPA and the courses will be used to assess your curriculum rigor.
If you took college courses, and they are NOT listed on your transcript or current course schedule at the time you submit the application, they will NOT be included in our scholarship consideration. HSUP courses taken through the University of Utah will be used to assess your curriculum rigor.
Is the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) Tuition Discount considered a merit award?Yes. Incoming freshmen students who are residents of a WUE eligible state and complete the admissions application process by December 1 will be considered for the WUE Tuition Discount if they meet the minimum cumulative GPA of at least 3.3.
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