Clark automatically considers every applicant for merit scholarships of up to $20,000/year (with a handful of full-tuition-plus-housing Presidential Scholarships) — but outside scholarships ultimately reduce your Clark grant dollar-for-dollar, and all Clark aid is capped at eight semesters.
Verified Jul 20262 months ago
The short answer
Is Clark worth a closer look?
Clark may be worth checking, but its awards do not follow a simple grades-and-scores chart. Start with the published scholarships below.
Merit tiers2See who qualifies
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
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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.
Up to $20,000 per year
Clark Merit Scholarships
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Who qualifies
Based entirely on academic background (academic performance and potential, accomplishments, talents, personal qualities). All applicants automatically considered; no separate application; decided without regard to financial need. No published GPA/test grid.
How to keep it
Renewable for up to four years as long as you maintain certain academic standards. All Clark merit + need-based aid is limited to eight semesters.
Notes
Notified at the time of admission. May still be combined with need-based aid. Clark does not publish individual named-tier names/amounts on these pages — only the $20,000/yr ceiling.
Full tuition…Full tuition, on-campus housing and meals (all four years)
Presidential Scholarship
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Who qualifies
Approximately five exceptional students annually; top applicants by academic achievement and leadership potential. No separate application; finalists are selected and invited to interview.
How to keep it
Covers full tuition, housing, and meals for all four years of undergraduate study.
Notes
Awarded regardless of a family's financial situation. Apply by the admissions deadline to be considered.
Per the Admissions Office, Clark University, August 2026. How we verify
Separate scholarship application
Is there a separate scholarship application apart from the general admission application?
No separate scholarship application exists; applying to Clark automatically applies the student for merit based aid.
“Since we provide merit based aid here at Clark, we do not have a separate scholarship application for students. When you apply to Clark, you are also applying for merit based aid so there is no separate application.”
Departmental scholarships
Are departmental scholarships offered?
Because students apply to Clark as a school rather than to a specific major, the university does not offer departmental scholarships.
“Since you are applying to Clark as a school, and not to a specific major at the school we do not offer departmental scholarships to the university.”
Later test scores
If a higher test score comes in after applying, can it be considered?
A later test score can be submitted after application materials are turned in to be considered as part of the application.
“Following the submission of application materials, if you get another test score you can submit that to be considered as a part of the application.”
What families often miss
For merit outside awards, after filling unmet need and reducing self-help (work-study then loans), any remainder reduces your Clark grant dollar-for-dollar. Non-merit outside awards (federal/state grants) reduce the Clark grant dollar-for-dollar immediately.
Tuition subsidies based on a parent's employment reduce the Clark University Grant by $0.50 per dollar after the first $5,000.
Students are limited to eight semesters of Clark-sponsored need-based aid and merit scholarships; from the ninth semester only federal loans may be available.
Clark's award already assumes living expenses (on-campus room/board or off-campus rent/groceries); moving to an off-campus apartment does not change your aid.
Standard Clark merit scholarships cap at $20,000/year — well below the 2026-27 cost of attendance of ~$82,753; only the ~5 Presidential Scholarships cover full tuition + housing + meals.
See costs and school data+
Who this school may work for
Strong applicants who want automatic, no-application merit money at a small MA research university; the very top applicants (≈5/year) compete for the full Presidential Scholarship.
Published yearly cost: Approximately $82,753 for 2026-2027. Source
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Clark, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Clark, academic year 2021-22
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$18,188
$30,001–$48,000
$13,313
$48,001–$75,000
$21,971
$75,001–$110,000
$25,062
$110,001+
$39,035
All income levels (average)
$28,714
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$58,867
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$28,714
That works out to roughly a 58% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $68,432 (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
77%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
86%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$26,759 (~$284/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$62,381
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
27%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
60%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
Clark's aid is based on the assumption you receive no non-Clark aid; if you do, Clark may revise its offer. For MERIT-based outside scholarships, outside funds first fill unmet need, then reduce self-help (work-study, then loans), and any remainder reduces the Clark grant DOLLAR-FOR-DOLLAR. NON-merit outside awards (federal/state grants) reduce the Clark grant dollar-for-dollar. Tuition subsidies based on a parent's employment reduce the Clark grant $0.50 per dollar after the first $5,000. All Clark merit + need-based aid is capped at eight semesters.
Merit outside awards: unmet need first, then self-help (work-study then loans), then Clark grant dollar-for-dollar. Non-merit outside (federal/state grants): Clark grant dollar-for-dollar immediately. Employer tuition subsidy: $0.50/dollar above $5,000.
These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.
AmountClark matches your Segal award dollar for dollarEligibilityRecipients of the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award who are full-time undergraduate day degree students at Clark.
Renewal per Clark's scholarship guidelines and continued Segal eligibility.
Do I need a separate application for merit scholarships?
No. All applicants are automatically considered for Clark's merit scholarships (and for the Presidential Scholarship); recipients are notified at the time of admission. Presidential finalists are invited to interview.
How much is the merit scholarship?
Up to $20,000 per year, renewable for up to four years with satisfactory academics. The Presidential Scholarship (≈5 students/year) instead covers full tuition plus on-campus housing and meals.
Will an outside scholarship reduce my Clark aid?
Possibly. Merit outside awards first fill unmet need, then reduce work-study/loans, then reduce your Clark grant dollar-for-dollar. Non-merit awards (federal/state grants) reduce the Clark grant dollar-for-dollar. Report all outside awards in writing.
What are the financial aid deadlines?
FAFSA and Clark's aid application are due Nov. 15 for Early Action/Early Decision and Jan. 15 for Regular Decision (matching the admission deadlines); tax documentation by May 1 if you enroll.
See sources and other schools+
How Clark compares
145 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.
Clark is in a recognizable cluster (145 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.
Clark 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 Clark’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
