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Brigham Young University · Utah

BYU scholarships and merit aid

Private religious flagship with two published tuition tiers: $6,888/year for Latter-day Saint undergraduates and $13,776/year for non-members. Named merit awards (Presidential, Heritage, National Merit) are denominated as a percentage of LDS tuition rather than fixed dollars, and every undergraduate, LDS or not, must secure an annual ecclesiastical endorsement for admission and retention.

Verified Jul 20262 months ago

The short answer

Is BYU worth a closer look?

BYU is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 5 published awards, and one is based on those numbers.

See our full reasoning

Worth applying for if your student is a strong-stat applicant willing to write the competitive essay — but every named tier is denominated in the discounted member tuition, so the real value depends on which price you pay.

BYU's merit ladder is unusual: every award is expressed as a percentage of Latter-day Saint tuition ($6,888 for 2025-26), not a fixed dollar figure. The top tier, the Presidential (Dallin H. Oaks) Scholarship, is 150% of that, roughly $10,332/yr — the only award above full tuition, and the only one that covers tuition in full plus a slice of other costs. The single cleanest dollar step is full tuition (Heritage, $6,888) to Presidential ($10,332): +$3,444/yr, a 1.5x lift on the tuition base. The catch: Presidential and Heritage both require a separate competitive application with an essay and are not automatic on stats. Only the National Merit award is automatic, and only for a Finalist who lists BYU first-choice with NMSC. Stacking is genuinely unclear: BYU publishes an outside-scholarship application order (tuition, then fees, then housing) but no documented displacement rule against institutional aid — confirm treatment with Financial Aid before counting on a large outside award stacking. No tier reaches full cost of attendance ($22,600 member / $29,488 non-member), so none is a full ride.

Merit tiers51 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards11.2%First-year students, CDS 2024-2025
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
Y Mountain overlooking Brigham Young University

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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.

150% of Latter-day Saint tuition

Presidential Scholarship (Dallin H. Oaks)

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Who qualifies

Separate competitive application with a mandatory essay. 50 new entering freshman students awarded annually (verbatim per BYU's freshman scholarships page). ACT or SAT score required for consideration (BYU does not publish a hard test-score cutoff but a submitted score is part of the holistic review). For context, the middle 50% of enrolled 2024-25 freshmen scored SAT 1290-1440 or ACT 28-32 with an average 3.90 HS GPA.

How to keep it

Renewable for up to 8 semesters. Multi-year awards issued in 2024-25 or later require a 3.70 cumulative BYU GPA through each winter semester; earlier awards require 3.60. Students must also complete 12 credits each fall and winter and submit an annual thank-you letter before the add/drop deadline.

Notes

BYU's top named freshman merit award, and the only one denominated above full LDS tuition. Because the award is expressed as a percentage of LDS tuition rather than a fixed dollar amount, its cash value tracks future tuition changes. At 2025-26 LDS tuition of $6,888, 150% works out to about $10,332 per year, which covers LDS tuition in full and a portion of other billed costs.

Source

Full Latter-day Saint tuition

Heritage Scholarship

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Who qualifies

Separate scholarship application required. ACT or SAT score required for consideration (BYU does not publish a hard test-score cutoff). Review is holistic across academic performance, program rigor, character, and leadership.

How to keep it

Renewable for up to 8 semesters. Multi-year awards issued 2024-25 or later require a 3.70 cumulative BYU GPA; earlier awards require 3.60. Annual thank-you letter required before add/drop or the scholarship is canceled.

Notes

The second named tier in BYU's freshman merit ladder. Denominated as full LDS tuition rather than a fixed dollar amount, which at 2025-26 LDS tuition works out to about $6,888 per year.

Source

Full Latter-day Saint tuition…Full Latter-day Saint tuition + $500/yr National Merit stipend

National Merit Scholarship

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Who qualifies

Named National Merit Finalist who lists BYU as first-choice school with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Decisions are issued after June 1.

How to keep it

Renewable for up to 8 semesters subject to the same GPA, enrollment, and thank-you-letter rules as other BYU merit awards.

Notes

BYU's Finalist-specific award. Unlike the Presidential and Heritage Scholarships, this one is automatic once the NMSC first-choice step is complete, with no separate BYU scholarship application required. The $500 stipend is the named National Merit cash component; full LDS tuition is the institutional layer BYU adds on top.

Source

Full Latter-day Saint tuition for 2…Full Latter-day Saint tuition for 2 semesters

Sterling Scholarship

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Who qualifies

Regional Sterling Scholar competition winner. Award covers two semesters at BYU (one academic year), not the standard 8-semester ladder used by the Presidential, Heritage, and National Merit awards.

Notes

A single-year award tied to the Utah/regional Sterling Scholar competition rather than BYU's multi-year scholarship ladder. Families should model this as a one-time cash infusion rather than a 4-year institutional commitment.

Source

Half or full Latter-day Saint tuiti…Half or full Latter-day Saint tuition

University Scholarship

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Who qualifies

Essay recommended on the scholarship application. BYU does not publish hard GPA or test-score cutoffs. Award criteria include academic performance, rigor of program, AND financial need (verbatim per BYU's freshman scholarships page), making this BYU's only named freshman merit tier with an explicit financial-need component.

How to keep it

Renewal terms vary by award. Multi-year awards issued in 2024-25 or later require a 3.70 cumulative BYU GPA.

Notes

BYU's lower named freshman merit tier. Functions as a secondary award below Heritage and Presidential, families who don't clear the top two named tiers may still receive half or full LDS tuition through this category. Because financial need is one of the published criteria (unlike the higher tiers), families with strong stats but no demonstrated need may receive Presidential or Heritage but not University.

Source

See what could change an award

Rules that could change the answer

These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from BYU's published information.

  • Cutoff cliffOne ACT point can move the award by +$500/yr ($7,388 − $6,888)

    BYU publishes a tier ladder where crossing National Merit Finalist listing BYU first-choice vs. full-tuition tier changes the marginal value by +$500/yr ($7,388 − $6,888). The named National Merit stipend layered on top of full tuition. Small in dollars, but the only fully automatic path — no BYU essay required.

  • Renewal rulePresidential Scholarship (Dallin H. Oaks): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

    Renewable for up to 8 semesters. Multi-year awards issued in 2024-25 or later require a 3.70 cumulative BYU GPA through each winter semester; earlier awards require 3.60. Students must also complete 12 credits each fall and winter and submit an annual thank-you letter before the add/drop deadline. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

  • Outside awardsNo published displacement order

    BYU's policy doesn't specify whether outside scholarships hit loans, grants, or only the COA ceiling. Get a written aid-office answer before chasing private awards.

What families often miss

  1. BYU publishes two distinct annual tuition rates: $6,888 for undergraduates who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and $13,776 for non-members (exactly 2x the member rate). Non-LDS students are welcome and regularly admitted, but they pay the higher tier as a matter of published institutional policy. Families who see "BYU tuition" in media coverage without noting the LDS vs non-LDS split consistently underestimate net cost for non-member students by about $7,000 per year.

  2. Every BYU applicant, LDS or not, must secure an annual ecclesiastical endorsement for admission and retention. LDS applicants interview with their bishop; non-LDS applicants interview first with their own religious leader (or a local LDS bishop) and then with the university chaplain. Losing the endorsement mid-year can end enrollment, which in turn ends any active institutional scholarship. This is a BYU-specific retention risk that does not exist at other schools in the registry, and it should be factored into any multi-year cost projection before committing.

  3. BYU's scholarship eligibility page states that recipients must submit one thank-you letter per year before the add/drop deadline or the scholarship is canceled. This is a paperwork trigger that catches families every year. The letter is submitted through the scholarship portal and is a retention condition on every multi-year award, Presidential, Heritage, National Merit, and University. Mission deferments require separate paperwork before the semester ends to preserve the scholarship.

  4. The BYU National Merit Scholarship (full LDS tuition plus $500 annual stipend) requires the student to be a named National Merit Finalist AND list BYU as their first-choice school with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation by NMSC's deadline. Admission to BYU alone does not trigger the award. Families who submit BYU applications without completing the NMSC first-choice step forfeit the full-tuition-plus-stipend package entirely, even if the student is a confirmed Finalist enrolled at BYU.

See award cutoffs and special programs

What each named tier actually pays

Every BYU freshman tier is denominated in Latter-day Saint tuition ($6,888 for 2025-26). Dollar values below are BYU's own figures or a direct percentage of that published tuition. The Presidential, Heritage, and University tiers require a separate competitive application and are not awarded automatically on stats; only the National Merit tier is automatic. For context, the middle 50% of enrolled 2024-25 freshmen scored SAT 1290-1440 or ACT 28-32.

Student profileLikely outcome
University Scholarship (half tuition) · need is a published criterionHalf LDS tuition — ~$3,444/yrBYU's lowest named tier and the only one with an explicit financial-need component. Strong stats without demonstrated need may land Presidential or Heritage but not University.
Heritage Scholarship · competitive essay applicationFull LDS tuition — ~$6,888/yrSecond named tier. Holistic review across academics, rigor, character, and leadership; no published test-score cutoff.
University Scholarship (full tuition)Full LDS tuition — ~$6,888/yrSame cash value as Heritage but routed through the need-aware University category.
Sterling Scholar · regional competition winnerFull LDS tuition, 2 semesters only — ~$6,888 one yearNot renewable. Model as a one-time cash infusion, not a 4-year commitment like the other tiers.
National Merit Finalist · BYU listed first-choice with NMSCFull LDS tuition + $500 stipend — ~$7,388/yrThe only automatic award: no separate BYU application. Decisions issued after June 1. The $500 is the named NM cash component; full tuition is BYU's institutional layer.
Presidential (Dallin H. Oaks) · competitive essay, 50 awarded/yr150% LDS tuition — ~$10,332/yrTop tier and the only award above full tuition. Verbatim 50 new freshmen awarded annually. Covers tuition in full plus part of other billed costs.

Where the dollars move on BYU's ladder

Each step is the arithmetic gap between two named tiers, computed off 2025-26 LDS tuition of $6,888. Because every tier is a percentage of tuition, these gaps grow if tuition rises. Note that BYU's higher tiers (Presidential, Heritage) hinge on a competitive essay application, not a test-score threshold, so these are application-effort cliffs, not pure stat cliffs.

ThresholdMarginal value
National Merit Finalist listing BYU first-choice vs. full-tuition tier+$500/yr ($7,388 − $6,888)The named National Merit stipend layered on top of full tuition. Small in dollars, but the only fully automatic path — no BYU essay required.
University half-tuition → University full-tuition+$3,444/yr ($6,888 − $3,444)Doubles the tuition coverage within the need-aware tier. Tied with the Heritage-to-Presidential step as the largest single gap on the ladder.
Full tuition (Heritage) → Presidential (Dallin H. Oaks)+$3,444/yr ($10,332 − $6,888)A 1.5x lift on the tuition base and the only step that pushes an award above full tuition. Requires winning a competitive essay slot (50 freshmen/yr), not clearing a stat line.
See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

BYU works for academically strong LDS families who want the lowest published sticker price in BYU's selectivity band, and for non-LDS families who accept the Honor Code, ecclesiastical endorsement process, and 2x tuition differential. The named merit ladder is denominated in LDS tuition rather than dollars, so award values scale with annual tuition changes rather than with cost inflation: the Presidential Scholarship (Dallin H. Oaks) covers 150% of Latter-day Saint tuition over 8 semesters with a competitive essay application and roughly 50 recipients per year; the Heritage Scholarship covers full LDS tuition for 8 semesters; the National Merit Scholarship covers full LDS tuition plus a $500 annual stipend for up to 8 semesters when a Finalist lists BYU as first choice with NMSC; University Scholarships award half or full LDS tuition. BYU does not publish GPA or test-score cutoffs for any of these awards, review is holistic, and the middle 50% of enrolled freshmen in the 2024-25 Common Data Set scored SAT 1290-1440 or ACT 28-32 with an average 3.90 high school GPA. Multi-year awards issued in 2024-25 or later require a 3.70 cumulative BYU GPA to renew, and every recipient must submit an annual thank-you letter before the add/drop deadline or the scholarship is canceled.

Cost of attendance$23,468–$30,564 for 2026-2027Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
On-campus (non-Latter-day Saint tuition)$30,564
On-campus (Latter-day Saint tuition)$23,468
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Books
  • Travel
  • Personal
  • Loan fees

Official BYU Enrollment Services COA. Page publishes 2026-27 (no 2025-26 component table published); year captured as published. Undergraduate, on-campus, no dependents. Two rows reflect Latter-day Saint vs non-Latter-day Saint tuition. Books represents supplies only (book costs are bundled in tuition). Loan fees only counted if a federal loan is accepted.

BYU cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at BYU, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$10,444
$30,001–$48,000$10,112
$48,001–$75,000$13,062
$75,001–$110,000$16,378
$110,001+$20,542
All income levels (average)$15,564

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$6,688
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$15,564

That works out to roughly a 31% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $22,690 (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
81%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
91%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$11,069 (~$117/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$75,790
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
12%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
8%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

BYU's published scholarship eligibility page is explicit that recipients cannot combine awards from different semesters, and caps total institutional scholarship eligibility at 8 semesters of fall/winter scholarship per student. BYU does not publish an explicit displacement rule for how outside scholarships interact with institutional need-based aid calculations, it publishes an application order instead, routing outside funds to tuition, then class fees, then housing, meals, and personal items before refunding any leftover amount to the student.

Verbatim from BYU's scholarship eligibility page: recipients cannot combine awards from different semesters, and the Financial Aid Office limits scholarship eligibility to eight semesters of fall/winter scholarship per student. For outside (off-campus) scholarships, BYU publishes an explicit application order, tuition, class fees, international studies program fees, housing, meal plans, textbooks, short-term loans, insurance, with any leftover amount refunded to the student beginning the third day of classes. If the granting organization doesn't specify a GPA requirement, BYU releases the funds regardless of GPA, and the default credit-hour requirement is 0.5 credits (less than half-time). BYU does not publicly document a loan-first or grant-first displacement rule for how outside scholarships interact with institutional need-based aid packaging. Families planning to stack large outside scholarships on top of institutional merit should confirm the specific displacement treatment with BYU Financial Aid before committing. Mission deferment is automatic for off-campus funds unless the grantor stipulates otherwise.

Source

More school data

From the BYU Common Data Set 2024-2025:

Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From BYU’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
11.2%of admitsget merit
Average award$2,525Covers ~8% of $30,564 cost of attendance

At BYU, roughly 1 in 9 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $2,525 — about 8% of total cost.

SAT mid-50%1290–144025th / 75th percentile
ACT mid-50%28–3225th / 75th percentile
Receive institutional merit11.2%First-year students
Average merit award$2,525Across recipients

Source: Common Data Set

Other BYU scholarships worth checking

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

AmountAmount not publicly publishedEligibilityStudents enrolled in BYU's University Honors Program, early in their university career, with demonstrated financial need. Explicitly prioritizes first-generation Honors students.

One of three named endowed awards inside the BYU Honors Program. BYU Honors does not publish dollar amounts on its scholarships page, so families should apply through the Honors portal and expect to learn the value at award notification. Application deadlines rotate: March 15 for spring/summer, July 31 for fall, October 30 for winter.

Source

AmountAmount not publicly publishedEligibilityBYU Honors Program students who are actively working on their Honors thesis.

Thesis-writing-specific award. Not a new-freshman scholarship, it applies after a student has matriculated, joined Honors, and reached the thesis phase of the Honors requirement.

Source

AmountAmount not publicly publishedEligibilityBYU Honors Program students majoring or minoring in the Marriott School of Business who are working on their Honors thesis.

Double-gated, requires both Honors Program enrollment and a Marriott School major or minor. Useful for business-intent students who are already planning to join BYU Honors.

Source

AmountVaries by college and departmentEligibilityAdmitted BYU students in specific majors. Each college (Marriott School of Business, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering, Life Sciences, Humanities, and others) maintains its own scholarship portal separate from the new-freshman merit ladder.

Centralized under Scholarship Types on BYU's enrollment site, but each college's portal lives on its own page with its own deadlines and criteria. Worth treating as a second pass after the freshman merit awards are locked in, especially for specialized majors.

Source

BYU merit aid FAQ

  • Can a non-LDS student attend BYU, and what will it cost?

    Yes. Non-LDS students are welcome at BYU but must meet the same Honor Code and ecclesiastical endorsement standards, with endorsement handled through the student's own religious leader and the BYU university chaplain. Non-LDS undergraduate tuition is $13,776/year versus $6,888/year for LDS students, and total 2025-26 on-campus cost of attendance is $29,488 versus $22,600. BYU's named merit awards are denominated as a percentage of LDS tuition, so a non-LDS recipient of the Heritage Scholarship receives the equivalent of full LDS tuition (about $6,888/year at current rates), which offsets roughly half of the non-LDS tuition rate.

  • What GPA and test scores do I need to win a merit scholarship at BYU?

    BYU does not publish hard GPA or test-score cutoffs for the Presidential, Heritage, or University Scholarships, review is holistic across academic performance, program rigor, character, and leadership. For context from the 2024-25 Common Data Set, the middle 50% of enrolled freshmen scored SAT 1290-1440 or ACT 28-32 with an average 3.90 high school GPA. Multi-year awards issued in 2024-25 or later require a 3.70 cumulative BYU GPA to renew; earlier awards require 3.60.

  • How does the Presidential Scholarship work?

    The Presidential Scholarship (Dallin H. Oaks) is BYU's top named freshman merit award, covering 150% of Latter-day Saint tuition for up to 8 semesters. At 2025-26 LDS tuition of $6,888, 150% works out to about $10,332 per year. It requires a separate competitive application with a mandatory essay and is awarded to about 50 recipients per year. Because the award is expressed as a percentage of LDS tuition rather than a fixed dollar amount, its cash value adjusts when BYU changes LDS tuition.

  • Will an outside scholarship reduce my BYU aid?

    BYU does not publicly document an explicit loan-first or grant-first displacement rule for how outside scholarships interact with institutional need-based packaging. What BYU publishes is an application order for outside funds, tuition, class fees, international studies fees, housing, meal plans, textbooks, short-term loans, insurance, in that sequence, with any leftover amount refunded to the student starting the third day of classes. Outside scholarships are also automatically deferred during mission service unless the grantor stipulates otherwise. Families stacking large outside awards should confirm displacement treatment directly with BYU Financial Aid before committing.

  • What happens to my BYU scholarship when I leave for a mission?

    BYU's scholarship eligibility page requires students to submit a deferment request before the end of the semester they last attend, or the scholarship is canceled. Off-campus (outside) scholarship funds are automatically deferred during mission service unless the granting organization stipulates otherwise. The 8-semester scholarship cap applies to fall and winter semesters in residence, so mission service does not count against the eight-semester ceiling when the proper deferment paperwork is on file.

See sources and other schools

How BYU compares

  • 133 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use unclear or unpublished displacement.

    BYU is in a recognizable cluster (133 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

  • 133 of 749 verified schools publish no clear displacement order.

    BYU is one of them. The right move is the aid-office email script below, not a guess.

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

    BYU 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 BYU’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring BYU merit aid