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Berklee scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$85,817per year · 2026-2027 · cost of attendance
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

Berklee may be worth checking, but its awards do not follow a simple grades-and-scores chart. Start with the published scholarships below.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
3 school sources to explore

Published rules, with the school sources close at hand. Confirm the details before you count on an award.

The award collection

Published scholarships

These amounts and requirements come from the school’s own published pages. Open an award to see who qualifies and how to keep it.

Where does your student land?

  1. Merit-Based ScholarshipsAmount not publishedNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Merit-Based Scholarships

    Amount not published

    Published award termsNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Merit-Based Scholarships

    Who qualifies

    Strength of admissions application (audition, interview, academics, and/or original compositions); automatic consideration with admission application

    How to keep it

    Undergraduate scholarships are awarded for up to eight total semesters of enrollment to cover a single major, and are automatically renewed each semester provided students are meeting the terms and conditions of their scholarship. Per FAQ, standard scholarship recipients must at least meet SAP standards: CGPA of 2.0 and completion percentage of 70.

    Worth knowing

    No dollar amounts or stat grid are published; awards are holistic/audition-based. Most awards are partial tuition.

  2. Presidential ScholarshipFull tuition + on-campus housing, meal plan, laptop, software, major bundles, and comprehensive feeNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Presidential Scholarship

    Full tuition + on-campus housing, meal plan, laptop, software, major bundles, and comprehensive fee

    Published coverage or packageNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Presidential Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Automatically nominated and selected based on audition AND financial need; must have a FAFSA and/or CSS Profile on file

    How to keep it

    Renewed each year, for a total of eight semesters to cover a single major, and follows the standard scholarship policy.

    Worth knowing

    Very limited number of top entering musicians. Does NOT cover off-campus housing, health insurance, travel, books, or miscellaneous fees — it is not a full cost-of-attendance ride.

  3. Full-Tuition ScholarshipsFull tuitionNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Full-Tuition Scholarships

    Full tuition

    Published coverage or packageNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Full-Tuition Scholarships

    Who qualifies

    Awarded based on the strength of an applicant's audition and interview; no additional application

    How to keep it

    Renewed each year for a total of eight semesters to cover a single major; follows the standard scholarship policy.

    Worth knowing

    Limited number; the vast majority of Berklee scholarships are partial-tuition. Full tuition only — not housing, food, or fees.

  4. Thrive Scholarship (continuing students)Amount not publishedNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Thrive Scholarship (continuing students)

    Amount not published

    Published award termsNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Thrive Scholarship (continuing students)

    Who qualifies

    Continuing undergraduates with demonstrated academic achievement, demonstrated financial need, and on track to graduate on time; CSS Profile (Boston campus) or FAFSA (Conservatory domestic) on file; automatic consideration, no application

    How to keep it

    Per FAQ: Students receiving the Thrive Scholarship are expected to maintain a CGPA of 3.0 and completion percentage of 94.

    Worth knowing

    Not an entering-student award; detail page requires login. Renewal bar (3.0 CGPA / 94% completion) is much higher than the standard 2.0/70%.

Free Merit Check

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The fine print

Aid capHard $85,817 cost-of-attendance ceiling

Institutional aid at Berklee cannot push the package past $85,817. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.

What makes Berklee different

Berklee awards all merit scholarships automatically through the admissions audition/interview process — there is no separate application, no published GPA/test grid, and no way to reaudition for more money later.

Merit tiers4See who qualifies
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

Selection beyond grades and scores

Start with the selection process.

These awards are not recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read each award's selection rules, application steps and dates. Meeting a minimum is not an award offer.

  1. Read the selection rules

    Look for the school's stated criteria and whether an additional application is needed.

  2. Check the application dates

    Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.

  3. Know what happens next year

    Check renewal, credit requirements and how other aid affects the award.

The fine print / Three questions to carry forward

Before you count on it.

Does it apply to us? Confirm the entering year, residency and every eligibility condition.

Can we keep it? Check renewal GPA, credits and how long the award lasts.

Can we combine it? Ask how outside scholarships and other school awards change the offer.

Take Berklee's decision sheet

A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.

See what could change an award

What families often miss

  1. Full-tuition awards cover tuition only. Even the Presidential Scholarship excludes health insurance, travel, books, miscellaneous fees, and off-campus housing — and 2026-27 total cost of attendance is $85,817 vs. $54,020 degree tuition.

  2. Scholarship policy item 12 states 'Scholarships are not increased beyond the initial award amount,' so the award is flat while tuition can increase each year.

  3. Scholarships cover up to eight semesters for a single major; the page warns 'Students who elect to declare a dual major should prepare to pay for semesters beyond the length of their scholarship.'

  4. Part-time enrollment results in the scholarship being prorated, and the part-time semester still counts as one of the eight semesters of eligibility.

  5. The FAQ states a change of principal instrument or failure to perform on it 'will result in a review of the award decision and may result in the loss of scholarships.'

  6. Students cannot reaudition for scholarship consideration; to be reconsidered they would have to withdraw their acceptance and reapply for admission.

  7. Standard scholarships require meeting SAP: CGPA 2.0 and 70% completion. Thrive Scholarship recipients must maintain a 3.0 CGPA and 94% completion — a renewal cliff that costs the award if missed.

  8. Total financial aid (grants, scholarships, and loans) cannot exceed total cost of attendance, so large outside awards can force adjustments; Berklee does not publish which aid is reduced first — ask the aid office.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Strong performers and composers whose audition and interview stand out — merit money here is artistic, not stats-based. Students counting on a GPA/test-score grid will not find one.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $85,817 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Berklee, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.

Average annual net price by family income at Berklee, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$42,734
$30,001–$48,000$37,987
$48,001–$75,000$47,799
$75,001–$110,000$46,801
$110,001+$54,676
All income levels (average)$49,465

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$52,040
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$49,465

That works out to roughly a 32% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $72,700 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Outcomes for students who enrolled here

Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
67%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
89%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$25,000 (~$265/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$33,647
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
14%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
34%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Berklee does not publish an outside-scholarship displacement order on its public pages. The cost-of-attendance page states that total aid from all sources (grants, scholarships, loans) cannot exceed cost of attendance, and the scholarship policy states institutional scholarships are never increased beyond the initial award.

COA page: total financial aid cannot exceed total cost of attendance. Scholarship policy item 12: scholarships are not increased beyond the initial award amount. Music Therapy interns: the Music Therapy Grant replaces any Berklee-funded scholarship for the internship — students cannot receive both. No public statement found on whether outside/private scholarships reduce institutional aid (loan-first vs grant-first).

Source

Other Berklee scholarships worth checking

These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.

Amount$500 to $5,000EligibilityHigh-achieving continuing students nearing graduation; nominated by faculty, chairs, and deans based on achievement in their major/instrumental department

No application; students are notified if selected. Small, partial-tuition merit awards.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityBerklee College of Music students demonstrating high academic and artistic achievement within their academic divisions

Described as 'relatively small awards,' generally decided in spring semester; automatic consideration; may not be eligible for renewal after a leave of absence.

Source

Berklee merit aid FAQ

  • Is there a separate scholarship application or deadline?

    No. 'There is no application necessary to be considered for scholarships. All entering and continuing students are automatically considered' as part of the admissions process. There is no published merit-scholarship deadline separate from the admissions deadlines.

  • Which FAFSA do I file for fall 2026?

    The site states: 'Applying for fall 2026? Submit the 2026–2027 FAFSA.' Domestic entering undergraduates who submit a CSS Profile by the posted deadlines are automatically considered for need-based institutional grants.

  • Does Berklee publish a GPA/SAT/ACT scholarship grid?

    No. Awards are based on the strength of the admissions application (audition, interview, academics, and/or original compositions), and no dollar grid is published.

  • How long does the scholarship last?

    Up to eight total semesters of enrollment to cover a single major, automatically renewed provided the student meets the scholarship terms and conditions (including SAP: 2.0 CGPA, 70% completion).

  • Are international students eligible for aid?

    International students are eligible for merit scholarships, but 'Entering international students are not eligible to receive institutional need-based aid.'

See sources and other schools

How Berklee compares

  • 235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.

    Berklee is in a recognizable cluster (235 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

  • 665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

    Berklee is one of them. The cohort minority (84 schools) only awards one-year scholarships, which means the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.

Sources used on this page

Every claim is checked against Berklee’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

  • Smith merit aid. Massachusetts private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • BU Wheelock merit aid. Massachusetts private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • WPI merit aid. Massachusetts private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Northeastern merit aid. Massachusetts private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.

Keep exploring Berklee merit aid

The next chapter

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