Undergraduate Merit Scholarship Eligibility Requirements

To secure your merit scholarship, you must accept your offer by:

• May 1 for fall entry
• December 1 for spring entry

After these dates, unaccepted offers are permanently withdrawn. 

Presidential Scholarship awards must be accepted through the Honors College online portal.

• Scholarships may be adjusted each year to ensure your total aid doesn’t exceed your cost of attendance.
• Pride of New York Scholarships: Must be used for non-tuition costs.
• Provost Scholarships: Must be applied to direct educational expenses.
• If you receive a new award letter with a higher scholarship amount, it replaces your original offer unless otherwise noted.

Scholarship recipients must register for full-time status each semester (at least 12 credits).

• Registration is verified at the end of the university’s drop/add period.
• Merit scholarship payments will be withheld when a student falls below full-time status, but will be reinstated within an academic year, if status reverts to full-time.
• The successful completion of at least 24 credits each year (summer, fall, winter, spring) is required. (Please note that for a typical undergraduate to Finish in Four years, 30 credit hours per year are recommended).

Presidential Scholars:

• Must maintain their enrollment in the University Honors College with an overall UB GPA of at least 3.30 during their first year.
• Must maintain their enrollment in the University Honors College with an overall UB GPA of at least a 3.50 for successive years.

All other merit scholarship recipients must maintain an overall UB GPA of at least 3.00, except for Transfer Merit Scholarship recipients that require at least 2.00.

Details relevant to all merit scholarship academic reviews:

• Only courses taken at UB are considered in the review of scholarship eligibility (transfer courses are not considered).
• Academic performance is reviewed at the end of each spring semester. Summer course grades will count in the subsequent year GPA review.
• Any student who does not maintain the overall UB GPA required for the scholarship will receive notification of scholarship ineligibility via his/her UB email account.
• If a student becomes ineligible for a scholarship based upon academic performance, the scholarship is permanently terminated and can only be reinstated through a Merit Scholarship Appeal  that has been approved by a scholarship appeal committee. All decisions are final.

If your residency status changes while your scholarship is active, your amount may be adjusted, since most merit scholarships were determined based on whether or not you resided in New York State at the time of your offer. You can inquire at ubscholarships@buffalo.edu before changing your residency to determine your updated scholarship amount. Some cases which apply include:

• International or out-of-state scholarship recipients who become official New York State residents.
• Students who are U.S. veterans, a spouse or a dependent of a veteran affected by the 2015 SUNY policy (PDF).

Scholarships are granted to students for a maximum of either four (4) semesters* or eight (8) semesters** of undergraduate study.

NOTE: Students in approved combined degree programs will continue to receive their scholarships for the maximum number of allowable semesters (not to exceed 8 semesters).

NOTE: Students who take an approved Leave of Absence (LOA) from the university are eligible to have their scholarship reinstated upon their return (they must have an overall UB GPA of at least 3.00, or 3.5 for Presidential Scholars, and must have completed at least 12 credits in the semester previous to the LOA). The semester(s) students are on an Official Leave will not count against total scholarship eligibility.

*The following scholarships have a maximum eligibility of four (4) semesters:

• Provost 2-year Scholarship
• Pride of New York 2-year Scholarship
• Transfer Student Merit Scholarship

**The following scholarships have a maximum eligibility of eight (8) semesters:

• Daniel Acker Scholarship
• International Scholarship
• Millonzi Distinguished Honors Scholarship
• Presidential Scholarship
• Provost 4-year Scholarship
• Pride of New York 4-year Scholarship
• Joseph Camerata Charitable Trust Scholarship

If you are a prospective undergraduate student and have questions about undergraduate university-based merit scholarships or scholarship qualifications, visit the Undergraduate Admissions website.