The starting point
CSUSB is a low-cost CSU campus (resident tuition ~$6,838/yr) with essentially no published automatic merit grid; its strongest merit award, the competitive Presidential Academic Excellence Scholarship for 20 local first-time freshmen, covers unmet tuition/fees plus housing but publishes no fixed dollar amounts, and the only concrete institutional figure ($7,425) is the need-blended Palm Desert University Legacy Scholarship.
Selection beyond grades and scores. 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.
Awards to discuss
The 2 awards in this school's research. Amounts retain the original units and conditions; confirm the entering year with the school.
Presidential Academic Excellence Scholarship (PAES) / Presidential Academic Excellence Program (Honors College)
Amount not published (covers unmet tuition & mandatory fees, books, an internship award, and first-year housing & meals) · Published coverage or package
Not recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules.
Eligibility: Competitive; 20 new students annually. Planned graduation from a San Bernardino or Riverside County high school; first-time freshman; admitted to CSUSB; FAFSA or CA Dream Act Application required. No published GPA or test cutoff.
Renewal: Supports 4 years (8 semesters) toward a bachelor's degree; recipients must maintain University Honors College eligibility and complete a minimum of 30 units per academic year. No fixed dollar amount or renewal GPA is published.
Other terms: This is CSUSB's flagship honors merit award and the closest thing the campus has to a high-value institutional scholarship, but it publishes NO dollar amounts — the value is defined as 'unmet' costs beyond Federal/State grants, so the cash benefit depends on each student's need profile (a high-need student could see most costs covered; a no-need student may see little). Recipients are automatically enrolled in the University Honors College. Apply via the PAES application by March 1.
https://www.csusb.edu/honors-college/presidential-academic-excellence-scholarship-paes
University Legacy Scholarship (Palm Desert Campus)
Up to $7,425 (net of financial aid) for up to four years · Variable or qualified amount
Not recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules.
Eligibility: First-time freshman entering each fall at the Palm Desert Campus; selected on academic/scholarship performance (cumulative GPA and class ranking), leadership potential, and financial need (FAFSA). Up to five awarded annually.
Renewal: Renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study, contingent on ongoing involvement as a leader at the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus.
Other terms: Merit-plus-need: selection weighs GPA and leadership but also financial need via the FAFSA, and the award is stated 'net of financial aid' — so the cash value depends on the student's existing aid. Palm Desert Campus only (not the main San Bernardino campus). Application requires transcripts, two references, a writing exercise, and a selection-committee interview.
https://www.csusb.edu/pdc/current-students/scholarships
Ask before you decide
- Which entering-year policy and residency category apply to us? What are the admission and scholarship deadlines?
- What grades and credits are required to renew, and for how many terms?
- How would other school awards or outside scholarships change the offer?
Recorded stacking policy: CSUSB does not publish an outside/private-scholarship displacement policy on its financial-aid, awarding-process, or types-of-aid pages. As a federally-aided institution, total aid (including outside scholarships) cannot exceed the cost of attendance, so an outside award can trigger a package revision, but CSUSB does not state on its public pages whether it reduces loans/self-help first or reduces grants. Treat as unclear and confirm with the aid office.
Our unanswered questions / Family notes
