Colgate treats loans, work-study, and institutional grant under different rules. The same $5,000 outside award can land against any of them depending on category.
Colgate scholarships and merit aid
The short answer
We did not find a simple published award list to show for Colgate. Read our full reasoning before spending more time here.
Verified Jul 2026
2 school sources to explore
Published rules, with the school sources close at hand. Confirm the details before you count on an award.
Explore the aid policy
Start with the financial aid office
This research does not list a merit award. Explore the recorded policies below and ask Colgate's financial aid office about current options.
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The fine print
What makes Colgate different
Highly selective Hamilton, NY liberal-arts college with a categorical no-merit policy — institutional aid is 100% need-based, but outside scholarships are unusually friendly: merit-based outside awards reduce family contribution, work-study, and loans before any Colgate grant.
Merit tiers0See who qualifies
First-year students with school awards0%First-year students, CDS 2024-2025
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
Start with the aid policy
Find the right kind of aid.
This research does not list a merit award. Check the school's financial aid options and application requirements; an empty award list is not proof that no aid is available.
- Read the selection rules
Look for the school's stated criteria and whether an additional application is needed.
- Check the application dates
Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.
- 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.
A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.
See what could change an award
What families often miss
Colgate is explicit: 'Colgate financial aid is offered based on demonstrated financial need; the university does not offer academic merit scholarships.' A 4.0/1550 student with no calculated need pays Colgate's full sticker — about $95,610 per year.
Per Colgate's policy, state entitlement aid like the NY Tuition Assistance Program reduces the Colgate Grant dollar-for-dollar — it's NOT additive on top of need-based institutional aid. The total stays the same; TAP just shifts the funding source from Colgate to New York State.
Merit-based outside scholarships are explicitly student-favorable at Colgate: they first reduce family contribution and self-help (work-study, loans) before any Colgate Grant adjustment. Outside merit awards genuinely lower real out-of-pocket costs.
See costs and school data
Who this school may work for
Families with demonstrated need under Colgate's institutional methodology. Strong students without calculated need who want a merit discount on Colgate's ~$95K sticker should look elsewhere — the school does not award academic merit scholarships.
On-campus$95,610
$74K
$18K
- Tuition & fees
- Housing & food
- Books
- Travel
- Personal
- Loan fees
First-year/sophomore on-campus scenario (matches input total). Student health insurance ($1,990) excluded as waivable. Tuition & fees combines tuition $73,206 + activity fee $440.
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Colgate, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
| Family income | Average net price paid |
|---|---|
| $0–$30,000 | $6,086 |
| $30,001–$48,000 | $2,678 |
| $48,001–$75,000 | $13,617 |
| $75,001–$110,000 | $21,831 |
| $110,001+ | $48,234 |
| All income levels (average) | $28,786 |
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
- Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
- $70,306
- Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
- $28,786
That works out to roughly a 67% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $87,070 (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
- 91%
- First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
- 93%
- Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
- $15,000 (~$159/mo on a 10-yr plan)
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
- $85,139
- Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
- 11%
- Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
- 13%
See other scholarships and cost examples
If your student brings another scholarship
Colgate handles outside scholarships differently based on type: MERIT-based outside awards first offset family contribution, work-study, and loans (student-favorable). State/federal ENTITLEMENT aid and parent-employer tuition benefits reduce the Colgate Grant dollar-for-dollar (less favorable).
Colgate publishes a bifurcated outside-aid policy. For merit-based outside scholarships, the displacement order is family contribution → work-study → loan, which protects the Colgate Grant. For state/federal entitlement aid (e.g., NY TAP) and tuition benefits from a parent's employer, Colgate reduces its own grant dollar-for-dollar. Total aid cannot exceed annual cost of attendance.
More school data
From the Colgate Common Data Set 2024-2025:
As filed in Colgate's CDS Section H2A: of 825 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 0 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 0 of 3,238. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
Receive institutional merit0%First-year students, Common Data Set 2024-2025
Colgate merit aid FAQ
Does Colgate University offer merit scholarships?
No. Colgate's published policy states: 'Colgate financial aid is offered based on demonstrated financial need; the university does not offer academic merit scholarships.' All institutional aid is need-based, calculated from the FAFSA and CSS Profile.
How does Colgate treat outside merit scholarships?
Outside merit-based scholarships first offset family contribution, work-study, and loans before touching the Colgate Grant. That makes outside merit awards genuinely additive at Colgate up to the combined family contribution + self-help cap — a student-favorable order.
Does NY TAP add to my Colgate financial aid package?
Functionally no. Colgate reduces its institutional grant dollar-for-dollar for state or federal entitlement aid like NY TAP. The total package stays the same; TAP shifts dollars from Colgate's budget to the state's budget without lowering net cost.
How much does Colgate cost?
Colgate's 2025-26 first-year/sophomore on-campus total is $95,610: tuition $73,206 + housing $8,908 + food $9,538 + $440 activity fee + indirect costs. Juniors and seniors total slightly higher at $96,356.
What happens if my parent's employer offers a tuition benefit at Colgate?
Per Colgate's published policy, employer tuition benefits reduce the Colgate Grant dollar-for-dollar — they are treated the same as state and federal entitlement aid. Total aid cannot exceed annual cost of attendance, so employer benefits don't stack additively on top of Colgate aid.
See sources and other schools
How Colgate compares
- 32 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use mixed displacement.
Colgate is in the small minority (32 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
Sources used on this page
Every claim is checked against Colgate’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
- Policy pageColgate stacking policy
- Cost of attendanceColgate cost-of-attendance worksheet
Compare with similar schools
- D'Youville merit aid. New York private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
- Excelsior merit aid. New York private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
- Ithaca merit aid. New York private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
- Marist merit aid. New York private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
Keep exploring Colgate merit aid
- Colgate scholarship stacking. Whether outside awards land as upside or quietly displace institutional aid.
- Does Colgate displace outside scholarships?. The dollar math on a $5,000 outside award, plus peer schools that handle it differently.